The Tainted
by Feral Phoenix
Summary: Suffering defeat at Hector's hands, Ein finds himself struggling to suppress the imminent reign of his old master alone. Having lost everything and everyone dear to him, he must find a way to stop Hector, alongside someone VERY unexpected. ExM
1. Disaster

The Tainted

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Riviera. This "alternate ending"/"alternate story" and its odd pairing belong to me. Mine means mine, and so if I catch any large amounts of unauthorized "borrowing", I will break your head. :3 Have a nice day now…

The forest was silent in the early twilight of Riviera's deep autumn.

No wind stirred the leaves of the trees; no animals called out to one another through the growing dark. No birdsong filtered through the air.

Amidst this faintly ominous setting, the young man who had lain unconscious on the ground for several hours suddenly awoke.

He jerked up into a sitting position with a gasp, automatically clutching at the hilt of the lightning-bolt-shaped sword that lay at his side. Staring wildly around, he grew pale, realizing perhaps that he was not where he'd expected he would be.

"Where am I…?" he asked slowly, his voice plaintive in the stillness of the air.

He seemed to be little more than a young boy, somewhere in his teenage years, with a tousled shock of bluish-brown hair. He wore a long, sleeveless jacked tied over a white undershirt and an almost oversized pair of navy blue and light violet shorts, with worn black leather shoes and grayish-brown leather gloves. His forearms and calves were wrapped in white linen strips with practiced care; a travel-tattered blue cape was drawn around his shoulders, with a cream-colored scarf fastened loosely over it. The boy's gray-blue eyes surveyed his surroundings with unease, and he chewed his lower lip slightly before very slowly standing, stretching out his limbs to make sure that he hadn't broken anything during whatever had brought him out here.

Taking a deep breath, he began to talk in a low voice. "My name is Ein Legendra. I'm a Grim Angel of Asgard. The last thing I remember, I was traveling to the Maze of Shadows with my friends…" At this, Ein's voice trailed off; the words had begun to trigger his memory, and that was _not _the last thing he remembered. Far from it.

Cierra and Fia… had been captured along the way, had both urged their companions onward rather than have the others be snared as well, left to a fate unknown. Ein, along with his friends Serene and Lina and his familiar, Rose, had finally confronted Hector, the twisted Magus—one of seven who had ruled the heavenly city of Asgard for the past millennia—who had been behind a sickening plot to seize the lost powers of the gods at the expense of all the Sprites who made their peaceful lives here in Riviera… a plot that had already cost the life of Ledah, Ein's fellow Grim Angel and best friend.

During battle, Hector had cast some kind of spell that had hit Ein hard—and apparently he'd blacked out, because he couldn't remember anything else. And now he had awakened here, alone.

Ein was seized by a wild fear that his other companions who had made it this far might just have been used as sacrifices in Hector's unholy ritual to summon Seth, a legendary creature with the ultimate powers of destruction. Ursula, the guardian of Riviera, was already defenseless, her mortal body exposed to any threat—if Seth was summoned and the two collided, both would be destroyed, leaving the power of the gods open for the taking. It would be just like Hector to murder Serene and Lina to complete his profane ceremony… all of Serene's people had already been sacrificed in the same way, their souls used to erode the seal that kept Seth bound on the Other Side.

Not to mention Cierra and Fia… who knew what could've happened to _them?_

_I have to stay calm. _Ein took a deep breath and willed his hands to stop shaking. It was also possible that Serene, Lina, and Rose had been sent here in the repercussions of the spell, as well. And if that were so, his panic would only keep him from finding them.

Sighing deeply, Ein closed his eyes and strained his hearing. In the silence of this forest, he would be able to hear it if anyone was moving nearby.

_There—_opening his eyes, he turned to his left. It had been very faint, but he'd heard the faint crash of something moving awkwardly through the brush. With the animals both so silent and so used to moving through this kind of terrain almost noiselessly, that _had _to be one of his friends.

Either that, or it was one of the demons still roaming throughout Riviera. But Ein didn't want to think about that. He _had _to have hope that things would turn out for the best… or else…

_Please, gods… let me find them…_

Ein pushed his way through the scrub carefully, not wanting to break tree branches or trample plants. Even in his haste, he didn't want to risk damaging the forest, which would be plain bad luck on top of bad manners. If he had fallen instead of just appearing, it would have been the trees that had saved his life. Without branches to slow his fall, he would've been killed in a landing. And his body certainly did ache as though he'd been dropped from a height.

The soft murmur of a stream reached Ein's ears, along with the rustle he'd detected before. He was getting closer—it was much louder than it had been before. He could hear it easily without straining his ears.

Finally, he broke into a small clearing, protected by a large and gnarled oak tree that rested beside the bank of the tiny brook he'd heard earlier. Amidst the roots of that tree was a sight that completely stole his breath away.

It was Lina, the little archer who had been his stouthearted companion ever since the two of them had met in Elendia, the Sprite village… and with her, Rose, the winged black cat who had become his familiar slightly before he'd been sent out to Riviera.

Lina lay sprawled on her back along the knobbly roots of the old tree, one small, pale hand on her chest. Her bright yellow tunic was dirty, the laces of her soft leather shoes loose and about to come untied. She seemed unconscious, her bright carrot-colored hair in its double ponytails spread out around her, the black ribbons that held them up flecked with dirt. Ein would have thought she was dead if her chest hadn't been rising and falling slowly with her dreamlike breathing.

Crouched nearby, her wings shaking, her breathing loud and pained, was Rose. The little familiar's fur was disheveled, and somehow she'd lost the little green bow usually tied near the tip of her tail. Scattered around her were small puddles of blood, shining sickeningly brightly on the emerald grass.

Ein knelt before his familiar, scooping her into his arms. He saw it and felt it now: There was a deep and ugly wound along her belly, bleeding sluggishly as it no doubt had been ever since she and Lina had shown up here.

"Rose…" he murmured, holding her carefully to his chest. "Thank the gods I found you. What's going on? What happened to you? And what about Serene?"

Rose shuddered in his arms. "(You don't remember, do you?)"

Ein felt a cold shiver creep up along his spine. "Remember what? Rose—what the hell did Hector do to us?"

"(Serene isn't here, Ein… I don't think… I don't think she made it. And Lina… she won't wake up. Hector didn't take her soul, but I don't know what's wrong with her…)"

Ein felt his familiar's words like a hard blow to the stomach. "Oh, _gods. _I can't believe this. We have to get help—you look like you're hurt pretty badly…"

Rose looked up at him, and her bright green cat's eyes seemed unusually dull and clouded. "(Ein… I think… I think maybe it's too late for that…)"

Ein shook his head, feeling tears starting in his eyes. _"No! _I've already lost Ledah, and who knows what's happened to Fia, Cierra, and Serene! I'm not going to lose you, too!" He held her a little more closely, feeling her blood soaking his clothes and trying to deny the truth in it. "Don't give up, Rose!"

She didn't seem to be listening. "(Ein… promise me something, okay…?)"

The young Grim Angel nodded, feeling his throat constrict. "Of course, Rose. What do you need?"

"(When all this is over… when Hector's gone, and Riviera is safe again… put everything in a story for me, okay…? It's something… I've always wanted to do…)"

Ein smiled bitterly. "You're taking it for granted that I'll win… whatever Hector's doing now with Seth, I might not be able to, you know…"

Rose laid her ears back and glared foggily up at him. "(Don't talk like that… I know you can… you're the chosen one, Ein… Riviera's last hope…)"

Very gently, Ein leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead. "I'll do that for you, Rose…"

Her small body vibrated with something like a purr as she curled up in his arms. "(Thanks for everything, Ein… you've been a better master than most of my kind… could ever hope for… a better _friend… _than I ever thought I'd have…)"

"Rose? Hang on, _please… _I'm going to get you help, you understand? Don't give up yet! You can make it! I don't know what I would do without you! _Please…"_

Rose laid her black-furred cheek against Ein's chest and gave a little sigh. "(…Goodbye… my wingless angel…)"

"Rose?" Ein whispered, feeling his heart pounding in his chest. "ROSE!"

She didn't respond.

"Oh, gods, _no, _I can't _bear _this again…"

Soft light began to gather around the familiar's body until her small and catlike form was entirely engulfed in a white brightness that seemed to illuminate the entire forest, as far as Ein could see. When the light faded, Rose's body was gone, leaving only a small bracelet-sized black chain with a cat charm connected to it behind.

"Rose…"

In stunned silence, feeling tears starting to slide down his cheeks, Ein stared at his hands. Even Rose's blood had vanished as though she'd never existed in the first place, leaving his clothes unstained by anything but the soft soil of the forest.

Numbly, Ein turned to Lina. The vague awareness left to him told him that no matter what, he had to get her back to Elendia, where she might receive some kind of help.

It was the only duty he knew how to fulfill now.

---

Ein had walked for almost six hours, not stopping to do any more than breathe for a few seconds or drink from the brook he was following. He knew that sooner or later, it would join up with the large river that eventually led to the road that would bring him back to Elendia, and so he kept moving. Still unable to let himself feel anything for Rose or any of the others, he moved in a state of complete numbness, carrying Lina and keeping his mind carefully blank. He knew that once he let the grief flood his body, he wouldn't be able to function for the tears and despair that would engulf him. He'd best actually be in Elendia when that happened.

Even so, he knew he would have to stop and rest _somewhere, _so that he wouldn't collapse from sheer exhaustion. Despite his pace, it would probably take him the rest of the day and well into the night to make it into Elendia. The villagers would at least allow him to rest until he was able to go onward with the only goal he had left in life: Stop Hector.

Too much had been sacrificed to let the traitorous Magus' twisted dreams come to fruition.

He couldn't let it happen…

With a sigh, Ein sat against a tree, setting Lina down very gently on the soft ground and smoothing her hair. He had to find some way to help her, too, of course. If there were some way for him to contact Ursula, then maybe he'd be able to find the solutions to everything.

He prayed to the gods who seemed to have forsaken him that it would be so simple.

The fleeting memory of Rose's last words filtered through his mind, and he scoffed at himself mentally. _'Chosen one'… yeah, right. Cursed one is more like it. All the people I've ever loved… everyone I've gotten close to… they've all suffered so much because of me. Fia… Cierra… Serene…_

_Rose…_

_Ledah…_

A slow movement at Ein's peripheral vision caught his attention, and he straightened where he sat, his muscles coiling warily. Whoever it was out there, they were very much _not _a Sprite. No Sprite he'd ever heard of carried such a large weapon.

It had to be some kind of demon…

The unknown person moved again, coming towards him; Ein's hand tightened on the hilt of his Diviner, and he sprang at them with a wild yell, slicing his sword forward. Whoever it was gave a surprised cry and tried to parry with the enormous axe or halberd they held, but Ein's strike knocked the weapon completely away, sending it to clatter on the ground, getting its blade caught in a treetrunk. Ein's momentum continued to carry him forward, and he tackled his assailant, pinning them beneath his body as he crouched over them, hands on their shoulders to keep them from rising.

He registered only mild surprise on his face when he realized who this person was, though the reverberations of shock shook him to the core.

"Malice," he whispered.

The third Grim Angel initiated by the Seven Magi and Hector's loyal follower, she was a young woman of around twenty years with crisp blonde hair cascading down her back, cut so that it hung into her face as well; onyx eyes that had once been blue a very long time ago; and features that could have been chiseled from white marble. There was beauty in her face, but it was a cold and forbidding beauty, like the statues of the valkyries that lined the Magi's courtyard. All the warmth in her had vanished with the deaths of her noble parents, long years ago. To become a Grim Angel, she had sacrificed everything—even her own future, with which her axe Diviner, Skadi, had been created. Unlike Ein and Ledah's sacrifices, which had left them deeply scarred but still willing to do what was right and follow the will of the gods, Malice's loss of her future had left her bitter and disillusioned; she followed Hector out of a sense that without him, she would no longer have anything left in life—not even her own free existence.

"You," she said flatly, staring icily up at Ein.

Breathing hard, Ein glared down at her, starting to shake and feeling his vision haze with the force of his anguished fury. "You killed Ledah," he whispered viciously, feeling angry tears began to spring into his eyes.

"That's right," Malice said, and smirked, tipping up her chin to display her bare throat. "Come on—avenge him. That's what you want, isn't it? Go ahead and kill me."

Ein's fists clenched, and he felt his fingers dig deeply into Malice's blue-cloaked shoulders. He couldn't deny that he'd been waiting for the chance to pay her back for all the souls of the Sprites she'd stolen. She'd made Serene suffer so much. And he would never be able to erase the awful memory of holding Ledah in his arms, watching his best friend die though he'd tried to stop the other angel's horrible wounds from bleeding with everything he had…

A dark voice within Ein's mind, cruel and laced with hate, whispered to him. _Go on. Do it. She doesn't care. She deserves it. Just reach three inches for Einherjar, and slit her throat._

But instead, Ein drew and released a deep breath, clenched his lips, and shook his head.

Malice just looked at him, eyebrows upraised.

"No," Ein said softly, drawing back and releasing his hold on her shoulders. "I'm better than that."

"The hell you are," she growled, her flat angry gaze burning against him.

"I mean it," he told her. "Even if I killed you… even if I made you pay for everything you've done… it might make me feel better for a little while, but it won't bring Ledah or Serene's family and friends back." He eased back, picked up Einherjar, and stood, letting Malice sit up. "There's no point in taking petty revenge now. Hector's going to summon Seth, and I'll have to do something to save Riviera. I can't waste any more time than I already have to…"

Malice was silent for a while, refusing to look at Ein… then she caught sight of Lina and scowled. "What's wrong with _her?" _she demanded, pointing.

Ein sighed, feeling the air he exhaled rasp in his throat. "You know… I was actually hoping that maybe _you _could tell _me."_

Malice looked at him, a question in her cold eyes.

"Hector did something to her. I'm not sure what. He didn't take her soul, but no matter what I try, I can't wake her up." He closed his eyes. "He's already got my other friends. I need to hurry, I don't have time for any stupid crap with you—"

Ein caught himself midsentence, looking back at Malice with a new purpose in his eyes.

"Come to think of it, maybe I can make some use of you after all."

He gripped Malice's wrist and pulled her into a standing position, looking her up and down.

"You're coming with me."

The forest was silent for the space of a few seconds. Then Malice exploded.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN, I'M COMING WITH YOU!"

"Exactly what I said. I can't trust you to go off on your own, and you have a lot more idea of what Hector's up to than I do. You'll be useful, and it's about time you fulfilled your Grim Angel's oath to the gods and did some right by them."

Malice stared at him, appalled, then tried to tug her wrist out of his grip rebelliously. "What if I won't come?" she said slowly and hatefully.

Ein's expression darkened, and he glared at her. "Don't forget that I'm stronger than you," he said softly, almost menacingly. "I could overpower you and _force _you to come with me, if I so chose. And if you tried to fly away, I could probably catch you before you left the ground. But I'm not going to overpower you, because you're going to come with me of your own free will."

"Why?"

"Because you've inflicted so much pain in this world that you have to balance it out with doing the right thing… even if it's only this once." Ein placed his hands on her shoulders and stared unblinkingly into her eyes. "Are you a Grim Angel or aren't you?"

Malice was silent.

Ein sighed, shook his head, and put Einherjar away, walking back over to Lina. "Okay. Fine. Have it your way. I can do this on my own, if you absolutely refuse to cooperate. I don't need you to be able to pass judgment on that bastard."

_It was a stupid idea anyway. How desperate can I get, asking someone like her to come with me? Company would be nice… but she's too loyal to Hector. She wouldn't help me…_

_Everything that's happened must be going to my head…_

The silence hung throughout the forest even after Ein had vanished into the trees, leaving Malice still standing stunned behind him.

:TBC:


	2. Conflict

The Tainted

See disclaimer in Part 1

_"You're WHAT?"_

_Ledah shrugged awkwardly, his pained smile starting to slip. "I'm sorry."_

_"Without even talking to me first!" Ein's voice twisted as his hands curled into fists and uncurled. "You always said you hated to fight—that you'd never put yourself in a position where you wouldn't have a choice! And you love your work as a priest so much…"_

_The blonde angel sat down and took off his reading glasses, folding them and slipping them over the collar of his robes. "I know I did. But, Ein… I've come to realize since then that… maybe there are some things worth having to fight to protect."_

_Fourteen-year-old Ein didn't like hearing it, even so. "But why _you? _You have other ways of defending the things you care about! And Ledah, you know that you're supposed to sacrifice something even if you make it through the trials! The Magi won't even tell you what it is until you get that far and can't back out… It's bad enough that one of us has to do this, but you too?"_

_"I knew you would be upset with me," Ledah said heavily, and his carmine eyes were dark with a pain that halted Ein's tirade. "But I already have no choice." He stood, and encircled the far younger child in his arms, holding Ein to his chest. "And remember that no matter what happens… now I will always be here for you…"_

---

Ein sighed bitterly and shook his mind from his memories. Lina's weight was practically breaking his arms; he'd been walking with her for much too long. The last time he'd taken a break, he'd done everything he could think of to try to wake her up, but to no avail. Lina still slept like a dead thing, and he was wearing down from the exhaustion of his solitary journey.

How he'd managed to do this same sort of thing not so long ago, carrying Ledah's body—which had surely weighed much more than Lina did—he no longer knew.

The lack of others around him hung over his body and spirit like a blanket of chains, coating him in deep despair. Ein had always hated being alone. Even when he was a child in Asgard, Ledah had always been there with him… all throughout his adventure to seal the Accursed, he'd had Rose and the girls… Though he was not even the most sociable of people, it hurt Ein deeply to lack companionship. He had a deep-seated fear of loneliness, of finding himself abandoned and entirely alone in the world, that had perhaps stemmed from the long neglect of his childhood, when he'd had no adoring mother or father to care for him, only the equally abused and neglected Ledah and the dozens of cold, inattentive soldiers of the Magi to whom he could turn for comfort.

It was probably that terrible feeling and his fear that had made him try to get Malice to come with him. It had been insane, he knew… She would never betray Hector, no matter how openly cruel and power-obsessed the Magus was. She still felt that she owed him everything… and besides, he wouldn't be able to forgive her for the things she'd done to his friends and countless Sprites, no matter what. The heartbreak of Ledah's loss was engraved into his being, with his shock at losing Rose and the girls chafing the unhealed wound in his heart raw.

All Ein wanted to do was sleep. Dreams would be no solace to him, granting only pale visions of what could once have been and now could never be; what he really wanted was the deadness of drugged sleep, induced by the powerful herbs he knew could knock a full-grown angel out for weeks at a time. Only in the perfect nothingness of sleep would he be able to banish the pain reality brought.

With a long-suffering sigh, he set Lina down on the riverbank, slipped off his shoes, and plunked his bare feet into the cold water without flinching, even when the current sent icy droplets splashing against his legs and clothes. Ein welcomed the ache the cold brought, as it distracted him from the pain in his shoulders, arms, and back.

He was so tired. The grass beneath him was soft, the temptation to lie down in it great—but Ein knew that if he slept here, with no one to wake him when it was time to move on, he might never wake at all. That was half the reason for keeping his feet in the water like he was. He could sleep with the ache of overused muscles; he'd been doing that for years… but the pain of cold was another story. If he had to, Ein would sit by the water until his feet were entirely numb if that kept him awake.

Perhaps it was Ein's despair that dulled his senses enough that he didn't notice the demon soldier creeping through the trees on the opposite side of the road; perhaps the demon himself was so overconfident at seeing what he thought was a pair of Sprites, easy pickings, that he didn't think to guard himself from attack elsewhere. Or maybe it was all some twist of providence that kept the wingless angel alive.

Either way, it happened like this:

Ein had absolutely no idea that he'd been followed until he heard a gruff masculine shout and jerked around in shock to see the soldier who'd snuck up on him raising a hatchet up as he ran in to attack. The suddenness of it all kept his hands from going automatically to Einherjar's hilt as they should have. The demon's attack was leaving him wide open; there was no reason _not _to counterattack and finish the whole thing quickly, for Lina's sake at least.

But Ein couldn't move.

And it would most surely have all been over then had he not been followed all this time by someone else entirely.

"Feel the weight of your sins—**BLUE SOPHIA!"**

A flash of blue swept with an angry roar through the air, just missing Ein and instead hitting the unlucky demon; it was followed by the flare of black wings as an irate-looking Malice crashed into the half-frozen demon's body, with her monstrous Diviner slicing in one powerful heave to behead him.

Ein just stared at her, shaken, seeming like he wasn't able to believe that she was really there.

"The hell do you think you're doing, sitting like that with your head in the clouds! Braindead brat! Seems like you've been forgetting the whole reason you even came to Riviera in the first place! There are _demons _around, you bonehead! Don't let down your guard!"

Ein blinked at her, bewildered. "You—you followed me," he managed, still numb with surprise.

Malice flinched; her face colored. "You could've killed me, and you didn't. I don't like owing debts. Don't expect me to haul your ass out of any other messes."

"Thank you."

She scowled at him. "Don't go reading any bullshit into it, Ein. You and I are enemies for as long as you oppose Hector's divine judgment of this land."

Ein sighed, stood, and stepped out of the water, shaking his feet dry before slipping them back into his shoes. "Whatever…" He turned to glance at Lina (still sleeping, of course), and sighed again. "I guess I'd better get going again." He heaved her back into his arms with a grunt and headed on down the riverbank.

Malice stood there chewing her lip for a few moments, then stepped forward. "Wait…"

Ein half-turned to face her, intrigued and a little amused despite himself. "Yes?"

Scowling, the other Grim Angel crossed her arms and glared at him. "You're all in. You should at least sit down for a while and get some rest," she said through gritted teeth, as though every word came at physical pain to her.

Ein shook his head. "I can't," he informed her patiently. "I have to get Lina home, and even if I did stop to rest, I would fall asleep. I'm exhausted and there's really no other way for me to block everything out."

Malice sighed, looking even more hostile, if that was possible. "You owe me _big _for this," she growled in a threatening voice. "Fine. I'll keep watch while you sleep. Happy?"

Ein waited a few moments, then shrugged and nodded. "Alright. Thanks. And if you're planning to kill me in my sleep, go ahead… Lina and I might be better off that way, so I don't really care."

Malice just stared at him as he resettled the young Sprite girl, undid his ragged cloak and scarf and balled them up to use as a makeshift pillow, and lay down after unstrapping his Diviner from his back. In what seemed like seconds, he was asleep.

She walked over to him and glared down at his unconscious form. "I _should _kill you, ungrateful little bastard that you are," she informed him, but instead, she sat down with her back to him and glowered into the distance.

---

_He could hear their voices as he dreamt, and the poison in the sibilant hiss of their speech made him shiver._

_**"Vengeance."**_

_Four of them were always circling around him, their gazes blank and demanding. What seemed like hundreds more were grouped around him, stationary, silent but for their rhythmic whispered demands. The only one, of course, who was neither circling nor whispering nor cloaked all in black holding an extinguished candle was Ledah._

_Ein tried to call to him, but somehow he couldn't bring himself to speak. Ledah looked awful; his skin was pearly white but for purple shadows beneath his eyes, and his clothes were still sodden with blood as they'd been when he'd died. His gaze was haunted and lonely as he stared at his old friend, and Ein ached to do something to alleviate Ledah's pain, but he couldn't move either._

_Then Ledah stepped forward and kissed him._

_Ein had been kissed by Ledah thousands of times before during their lives at Asgard, but never like this; never as passionately and desperately as a lover. Partially out of shock, but also from some very deep part of him that cried out in fulfillment, Ein didn't push Ledah away but snaked his arms around the other angel's chest, drawing the two of them together. Ledah was so cold. His lips tasted like old blood, and something within Ein rebelled against it. He knew in his heart and in these unchangeable facts that Ledah was already—was _still—_dead._

_Ledah broke off the kiss, easing back and gently caressing Ein's cheek with those icy-cold fingers. Something in the sadness of his gaze hurt Ein deeply, but he still couldn't say anything._

_"You must avenge us," he said softly._

_Ein finally found his voice, but shocked himself by whispering "I love you" instead of asking what in the world was going on here._

_Ledah shocked him in return by replying, "I know" and letting a few stray tears slide down his death-paled cheeks._

_Ein could only watch from inside himself, numbed by what had just happened, as Ledah took his hand and led him from the circle of whisperers towards a distant light._

_It was the clearing where he'd gone to sleep. How strange._

_Malice was standing there, holding out a hand towards him expectantly._

_Without any control over his actions, Ein let his hand slide from Ledah's grasp and walked slowly over to her, leaving his old friend standing in the dark, wearing a hollow smile on his face._

_Even as he took Malice's hand and she began to lead him away, Ein couldn't look back._

---

Ein snapped into wakefulness with a gasp.

"Finally," Malice grumbled. "You sleep like the dead."

Looking around, disoriented, Ein realized that night was already starting to fall over the clearing again. "Gods, how long was I asleep?"

"A very, very long time." Hector's Grim Angel stood up, lacing her fingers together and stretching. "I'm all stiff now. I should never have agreed to watch you."

"I had such a weird dream…"

Malice gave him a look. "I don't _want _to hear about _your _weird dreams. You're just going to have to deal with whatever mess you made in your loincloth yourself. Stupid horny kid."

Ein's face flamed. "Malice, what the hell is wrong with you!"

"It's only natural, I suppose, but that doesn't mean I want to hear about it. Keep your sex dreams to yourself, Casanova."

"I am _not _having sex dreams! This was too _weird _to be anything like that! Romance didn't have a single thing to do with it!" Belatedly, Ein remembered the bizarre erotic poignancy of Ledah's passionate kiss, and his face flamed further. "So stop saying stupid things like that!"

"Whatever." Malice turned to face the sunset. "But don't you need to get going if you want to get that stupid kid to Elendia in time for whatever it is you're going there for? After all, if you're going to keep resisting Hector and die when he unleashes the Retribution on this land, you might as well decide where you are when you're gonna go."

Ein glared at her, then carefully headed over to Lina and hefted her into his arms. "Thank you for keeping watch, and for saving me. I don't suppose we'll see each other again on terms like this, so I don't know if I can really repay you." Nodding to her, he headed down the road that would lead him back to the village that had become a second home to him. "Goodbye."

He hadn't been walking for very long when he realized that the clipped sound of booted footsteps was following him resolutely.

Looking over his shoulder, he saw that Malice was walking only a few yards behind him, her gaze fixed on him all the while.

"What is it now, Malice?" he asked, turning his gaze back to the road ahead. "Aren't you going back to help Hector take over the world?"

"Hector doesn't need or want me anymore," Malice said bitterly after a long pause. "And as long as he has Seth, he never will again."

Ein was silent for a while, then he gave a short, humorless bark of laughter as bitter as his enemy's confession. "Then he did sacrifice Serene. That sick bastard. Cierra and Fia too, isn't that right, Malice? He'd better hope he can control Seth, or else he's just murdered all the family I ever had for nothing."

"Oh, Seth can be controlled easily enough," Malice said in cold tones as stilted as the clack of her boots' heels on the cobbled road. "She's little better than a child, Ein. She understands nothing of what Hector really plans for her to do; she trusts him blindly. See where that gets her. Now that Hector has his tool and won't be needing any of his other allies anymore." Ein heard her toss her hair angrily. "I certainly hope he remembers those of us who were faithful to him once he's done using her and has reforged the world into his own preferred form, the paradise for all his soldiers."

"Why do you follow him?" Ein asked her, poison laced through his words. "You know that he's just using you, too."

There was a long silence.

"I'd rather be used than die as some pitiful ex-noblewoman whose only purpose in history is to be _felt sorry for," _Malice spat.

"Is glory worth all that?" Ein asked her.

"My glory and my honor are my life," she snapped at him.

"Honor. Right. I keep forgetting how _honorable _it is to attack an injured and exhausted man from behind. And how _glorious _it is to try to kill someone for losing one battle—_one _against millions and millions of hard-won victories for a cause they believed in with all their heart."

Malice was silent at this for a while, but the click of her boots sped up until she was striding even with Ein, her hands bunched on her torn white skirts as she glared directly into his eyes.

"Why didn't you ever want to help Hector?" she demanded. "What are the Sprites to you? They were the slaves of the demons a thousand years ago, and it takes longer than that for a servile race to make that change. You know they'll just start serving your enemies again."

"The demons that _you _resurrected on Hector's orders," Ein pointed out. "But Malice, don't you get it? Just how different are the Sprites from us? Hector doesn't care about the angels, no matter what he claims. He only cares about himself."

"Lord Hector _rewards _those who serve him," Malice half-shouted.

"Which would be why you're here, roaming around with nothing to do with yourself, while Hector and his new right-hand soldier go out to conquer the rest of the world," Ein replied flatly. "Give us all a break and stop lying to yourself, Malice. Hector never gave a shit about any of us. He probably knew that I was alive, but he never even bothered to try to look for me. He used Ledah up mercilessly and then threw him away when it looked like he wouldn't be useful enough anymore. And he's got _you _so tightly wrapped around his little finger that even after he's completely deserted you, you're still fawning over him. Get a grip on yourself! Where's your pride as a Ructor! Hector ripped off my wings! He raped Ledah's heart and left him unable to feel anything anymore! He took your future away! Why are you _so _obsessed with following his bidding? You should hate him as much as I do!"

"Without Hector, I would have nothing," Malice protested.

"You _already _have nothing!" Ein shouted. "And because of you and your master, now I have nothing either! Ledah and Rose are dead! Hector sacrificed my friends to resurrect a puppet he'll use until he can gain power! He's going to kill Ursula and anyone else who opposes him, and wipe out all life on Riviera! What did you become a Grim Angel for, Malice? It wasn't this, this disgusting servility and groveling to one of the Magi! What about the other six? What about the _gods? _They're the ones you swore your oath of fealty to, not Hector! He's betrayed the gods, and he's been using all of us! Riviera is his chessboard and you and I were both his pawns until he cast us aside! Now I have nothing left to live for except defeating him, and you have nothing left to live for, period! I can't forgive the way that Hector used me—and I can't possibly begin to excuse all the murders he's committed!"

"You can't see the bigger picture," Malice yelled, flustered.

"No, _you _can't," Ein snapped back. "If he has his way, we're all going to die—you, me, the Sprites and the demons, the six other Magi, any angels brave enough to stand up against him… and I bet he won't stop until he's got all of Midgard, too! He'll kill the humans who live there in his insatiable desire for power!"

"So what!" Malice demanded. "What are a few lives in exchange for Paradise? The gods are dead, Ein, and they're not going to come flying from a fairy tale to grant the faithful life and happiness! Hector's promise to the angels is the only solid hope we've got of anything better! This world's been dying ever since Ragnarok, and you've just been too blind to see it!"

"Is Paradise really worth it?" Ein cried. "There isn't going to _be _anything better for people like us! Hector's dream of a perfect world is _our _hell! And what about everyone who's gone? Where's their Paradise? Where's their heaven? Ledah… and Rose… Fia, Cierra, and Serene… Lina… Ursula… the people of Elendia… _you, _Malice… and me… it'll all be for nothing!" Tears were openly running down his face now, slipping down the contours of his cheeks to drip onto Lina's clothes. "And I'm all alone… and I can't do this by myself… and gods… I miss them all… so much…"

With a low, choked-sounding sob, Ein collapsed to his knees in mid-step, bowing his head over Lina's still-unconscious form and letting his grief go in a deep moan that rose into a wretched-sounding wail.

Malice stared, white with shock, as Ein let his pain take full control of him, holding Lina tightly to his chest as he sobbed as hard and as brokenly as any despairing child.

Awkwardly, as if she barely knew what she was doing, Malice knelt beside him and laid a shaking hand on his shoulder. Instantly, Ein latched on to her, clinging blindly and desperately to her with his free arm, pressing Lina's unresponsive body between both of theirs as he cried in raw, hoarse, painful wails.

Malice still looked bewildered, but her response, though hesitant out of disuse, was still automatic. Very slowly, the touch of her hand crawled from Ein's shoulder to his hair, finding a gentle grip in the thick bluish-brown tufts as he shook with sobs, holding him steady while he cried his heart out.

:TBC:


	3. Inconvenient Past

The Tainted

See disclaimer in Part 1

Ein's return to Elendia came as a bitter shock to the Sprite village's residents.

None of them had ever imagined that their savior—that a legendary _Grim Angel_—could possibly lose.

It was a horrible blow to all of them. Fia, Serene, and Cierra all as good as dead—Lina completely comatose—and Ein a broken, weary shell of the young warrior who had always managed to defend them in the past. Ein wouldn't answer any of their questions; nor was he in the state to. He retreated back to the house he'd shared with the girls, and the first thing he did upon getting there was collapse into the nearest bed and sleep like the dead.

Nor could the people of Elendia go to the strange woman who had come back with Ein for their answers. Her wings and the axe she carried marked her as a Grim Angel, but she was cold, angry, and forbidding in every move she made. She stood as an acting guard while Ein slept and spoke to no one.

And Ein slept for three days and nights on end, with no signs of waking.

When he finally did rise, he went wordlessly and directly to Graham, and would speak to no one, the woman with the glacial beauty and the steely gaze walking at his shoulder. Her presence was as much a deterrent as Ein's altered countenance: No longer the awkward but cheerful figure who had been the friend to all in the village, he was grim, tired, dogged, and haunted, his focus narrowed entirely towards his only goal—defeating Hector. Those who had known him best understood that this was the only way he could possibly keep moving forward with his friends all torn from him so violently. If he took a moment to consider anything else, the fragile house of cards that comprised the shambles of his resolve—not to mention his very sanity—would collapse.

So Elendia watched him go, and knew that Ein they had known and befriended was gone forever, destroyed in the wake of this new grim avenger and his brusque companion.

When Ein had reached Graham's modest home, he sat on the floor before the wizened Elder, stared at him and Ladie, his valkyrie bodyguard, for a few moments, then spoke, his voice hoarse from three days of disuse.

"I need to know how I can contact Ursula."

Graham and Ladie exchanged glances, but did not answer him immediately.

"I have no idea what I can do against Hector now that he has Seth. Ursula will know, if _anyone _does. So I have to contact her. If she doesn't have any ideas, we're all done for. Hector will tear Riviera apart to get the gods' power, and everyone here will die. From there on, I'm pretty sure he'll seize Midgard—after that, not even Asgard's forces will be able to stop him. The human lands have lost the power to cast magic, but they have technology that rivals Asgard's, and if Hector gets access to that knowledge, he'll be able to create instruments of magitechnology that could be catastrophic to the world. It'll be genocide—a second Ragnarok." Ein shook his head. "If you have any way of getting Ursula's attention, _please _tell me. It's life and death, and she knows it."

Graham shook his head very slowly. "If your need is great enough, she'll come. That's all I can say."

Malice bristled threateningly and stepped forward, her grip on Skadi rendering her body rigid. "You'll have to do better than that, old man."

Ladie glared at her. "Don't threaten the Elder. You're here at his courtesy."

Malice sniffed in derision. "Don't try to tell _me _what to do, savage."

Ein sighed. "Please, you two. Now isn't the time for that."

Malice gave Ein an irritated look, but she said nothing.

Graham went on after signaling for Ladie to stand down. "You can call Ursula with your need. She'll feel the pull of your heart, and if she so chooses, she'll answer you."

Malice looked sulky. "She damn well better."

Graham gave her a mild look, and she fell silent again.

Ein closed his eyes and let out a terse sigh, focusing his mind on the situation Riviera was in, as well as the distant knowledge he allowed himself of what had happened to his friends. He would _not _let anyone else die. Gods hear him, he _would not _have anyone else be sacrificed in the way they had been.

_Ursula, come **now**_.

And she answered.

Light bloomed against Ein's closed eyelids; when he opened his eyes, Riviera's guardian stood before him, haloed in soft radiance, surrounded by tiny fairies.

Ursula must have been a beautiful woman when she'd truly lived, over a thousand years ago, during the age of Ragnarok. Out of her deep desire to protect the land she loved, she had lingered on in spirit after her physical body died, sealing Riviera off from the rest of the world for the past millennia. Still, she was little more than a ghost, and her body itself was no longer solid though others could see it easily. Fair-skinned though she was marked with heavy scarlike stripes all down her right side, Ursula had long, silky waves of hair that was a lovely shade of powder-blue, the same shade as the most delicate blue flowers. Her eyes were an arresting shade of lilac violet, and though the contours of her face were soft, there was strength in the determined set of her soft lips and the earnest directness of her gaze. Strips of white linen fabric hovered about her body in place of clothing, and delicate wings like some lacewing's sprang from her back. She was barefoot, and only the tips of her toes touched the ground, the magic in her spiritual incarnation keeping her in place.

Though she was only a spirit, Ursula did have one weakness—her physical corpse, magically preserved and protected by a powerful layer of triple barriers within the sacred realm of Yggdrasil, the reality hidden within the World Tree that overshadowed Elendia. It was in defense of that holy place that Ein had run back into Ledah—and it was in assault of that place that Malice had killed him. Yggdrasil was not a place of good memories for Ein. It marked one of his greatest failures, for which he would forgive himself no less than he forgave himself for what had happened to the girls.

It would likely haunt him for the rest of his life.

"What should I do now?" Ein asked her, his voice suddenly husky.

"My power to aid you is nearly gone," Ursula replied, closing those intense eyes. "All I can do is confront Hector and Seth when they head for the resting place of the gods, and the outcome of that encounter is already predetermined: Both Seth and I will vanish forever from this world, leaving this land unprotected. And even if you were to come with me… if you fought Hector as you are now, he would surely kill you."

Ein blinked at her. "As I… am now…?"

Ursula reached out and laid her hand on his chest. Her touch felt like nothing more than a cool breeze, and yet Ein could somehow feel her ethereal fingers press against his clothes. "You cannot yet reach your full potential as long as the greatest powers that lie within you are sealed away."

Ein flinched as if she'd struck him, shock written all over his face. "Wait… you… you _left more than one seal on me? _How… how could you… knowing that I would be facing the Accursed… knowing that maybe, I could've saved Ledah… could've saved the girls if…!"

"Don't misunderstand," Ursula said gently. "This other seal is none of _my _doing. And because I didn't place it, I can't remove it. Until you find whoever did, you won't be able to defeat Hector."

Ein shook his head. "I can't believe this. Is _this _what Hector did? If… if that's the case, then I'll _never…" _His voice trailed off and he shook his head again, too upset to speak.

"I know that man's magic, and believe me, Ein, this is _not _Hector's doing. This seal is very old, Ein; it's probably been a part of you since you were a very small child. Perhaps it was placed by one of the other Magi, for some reason of their own."

Ein stared at her.

"That means we'll have to go back to Asgard," Malice said bluntly, causing everyone else in the room to stare at her.

"Hector's creature no longer, I see," Ursula commented. "And a good thing. I hate to see a spirit so proud bound into subservience."

Malice gave a small, almost ladylike snort and curled her lip, crossing her arms. She didn't give any other response, though, and Ursula didn't pursue the matter further.

"You have a long journey ahead of you, Ein, and it's best that you get started as soon as possible. I doubt that I can hold Hector off for very long. If you can't stop Hector… the world is doomed to fall under his rule, and the freedom of this world's peoples will be obliterated. We are all counting on you, Wingless Angel."

And as abruptly as she had appeared, she was gone.

---

"Malice, where did you go?" Ein called as he pushed away the foliage of one of the wild shrubs that screened off their camp from the view of the road. "Come on, this isn't the time for something like this…"

She wasn't anywhere to be seen. Ein sighed, shook his head, and slipped through the brambles, trying not to get his clothes caught on twigs or leaves.

They'd been traveling for nearly a week now, and it was still quite some way until they would reach Heaven's Gate. Though she wouldn't give any explanations, Malice was still with him, and though she didn't say anything about it or even seem to consider her actions out of the ordinary, it looked as though she would be staying with him rather than finding her way back to Hector.

Ein was glad for her presence, even though he still had trouble getting over her caustic personality and his own guilt at traveling with Ledah's murderer. Anything was better than having to travel alone.

So it didn't exactly do that much for him when she'd seemed to vanish without a trace when he woke up that morning.

"Come on, Malice, where are you? Don't play stupid games—I thought we were in this toge—"

Ein was silenced mid-sentence by what he saw when he shoved his way through a series of bushes towards the freshwater spring they'd decided to camp by the previous night.

"Do you _mind?"_

Ein blushed badly. "I'm sorry—"

"Stupid kid."

Malice was standing in the middle of the spring, up to her hips in the water. Judging by the fact that her clothes (and Skadi) were all neatly placed at the edge of the water, she'd been bathing until Ein had managed to interrupt.

_Why does stuff like this always have to happen to me? _Ein wondered, wincing but unable to look away. _Now she's gonna hate me…_

"Are you going to go away or are you just going to gawk at me?" Malice demanded, her wings twitching as she looked over her shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Ein managed to squeak again.

"Jeez, you really are still a kid," Malice said, tossing her hair, and nearly made Ein's heart stop when she turned to face him.

But once she had, any perverse thoughts that Ein might have entertained evaporated, and he wasn't quite able to choke back his reflexive gasp of horror. "Oh, dear gods. Malice, what _happened _to you?"

Whatever the injury had been, it had obviously healed long ago, but it must have been horrible to leave such grotesque scars. The vertical slash started at Malice's collarbones, tracing a straight line that continued down past the water's surface, that faded deep pink of old scar tissue, with smaller divots along the sides where it had been stitched up. The horizontal slash wound its line across her breasts, deep and broad enough to completely cover the softer tissue of the nipples. Staring at the smaller scars where the stitches had been, Ein winced sympathetically at the pain it must have caused. The scars formed the perfect shape of a cross against Malice's body, a dark and violent stigma against the pale milk-white shade of her bare skin.

Malice's smile was twisted and bitter. "The funny thing is? I don't remember it happening at all. They said I'd probably repressed the memories so I wouldn't go insane from the pain it caused." She traced the scars. "You aren't the only one who had to suffer to become a Grim Angel, Ein. Ledah and I both had it much harder than you did. For us, that power wasn't just sitting and waiting to be uncovered."

Ein nodded slowly. It was the same for him—the memory of losing his wings was very vague, and the doctors who'd treated him said that the mind was capable of doing such things subconsciously in order to protect the conscious mind from having to confront the horror and the risk of shattering from it. "So, these are…?"

Malice nodded. "Supposedly I'm missing lots of important organs, and it's a medical miracle that I'm still alive. Plenty of diseases that would give you a hard time but leave you unscathed could cripple me, if I got them. I can't have children. I practically had to give up drinking after I changed, since I only have half a liver left and just one kidney. I can't smoke—not that I would anyway, mind you—because I only have one lung. No matter how hard I train the rest of my body, no matter how strong I become, my condition is precarious." She shrugged, which made her breasts move in a way that normally would've been very distracting but only drew Ein's attention back to those awful scars. "Part of the deal between Hector and me was insurance. Making sure I wouldn't just keel over and die from getting pneumonia or something stupid."

"Gods." Ein shuddered. "It must've been horrible for you."

"Still is. It's just another way I don't have any future left." Malice crossed her arms. "Now are you going to go away so that I can get dressed, or what? You seemed a bit anxious to get going before."

Ein went crimson again. "Oh. Right." He turned around and started to walk off, then paused. "Malice…"

"What?"

"…It's nothing. Never mind."

He heard Malice give an annoyed sigh behind him. "You really are just a kid."

Ein scowled, feeling his blush deepen. "…I don't see what virginity has to do with it…"

"You'll understand when you finally grow up."

Shaking his head, Ein headed back to their camp and kicked out the remains of the night's fire, sitting down on one of the boulders strewn about the small clearing. Malice sure could be weird. Any of the girls, from Cierra to Lina, and even _Ledah, _depending on his mood, would've killed him for walking in on them bathing, but Malice didn't seem to care that he'd just seen her completely naked. Most other people he'd known would be ashamed of injuries like that, too—but she'd been open with him about it.

It was very strange.

"And why is she always treating me like a kid these days?" Ein asked the empty air. "It doesn't make any sense, especially when both of us know I'm stronger than she is, and that she's expecting me to be the leader here…"

"It's because you're just too nice for your own good," Malice replied, walking through the bushes and ignoring the way they tugged at her cape and skirts, squeezing out her hair. "And even after everything that's happened, you're so terminally naïve that it makes me sick."

Knowing it was hopeless to try to get her not to pick on him, Ein sighed and stood up. "Well, now that you're done primping, we should get moving. …We still have a long way to go to get to Asgard and we're running out of time."

Without waiting for her reply, Ein headed towards the road. Malice watched him for a while, then followed as he went.

:TBC:


	4. The Innocent Destroyer

The Tainted

See disclaimer in Part 1

Ein was really starting to get annoyed.

He and Malice had been traveling for days, but there was still no sign of the end of the forest—and no way of knowing how close they actually were to Heaven's Gate.

They had to get back to Asgard, and quickly, before Hector and Seth laid waste to Riviera—they couldn't afford to waste time hanging around here. Ein wished bitterly that he still had his wings; if he had, then he and Malice would be able to make much better time.

And speaking of Malice…

"Well, you obviously can't handle walking for another hour. Go find a campsite."

Ein hadn't had the energy to argue with her, so he'd just gone. But why did she always order him around like that? It was so obnoxious… did she really have to always act as if she was so much better than him? Or was that just her way of ignoring the desperation of their situation?

Well, he'd pretty much already given up in plumbing the depths of the female psyche—

As he pushed his way into the clearing, however, Ein stopped dead, his mouth dropping open as his eyes went wide with shock.

"Malice! You've gotta come quickly!"

_"What? _What in Hel is so all-fired important that you absolutely _must _have me around to take care of it for you?" She sounded bored, and annoyed, but her voice was getting closer, and so Ein didn't waste any time waiting and instead ran to the girl who lay unconscious beneath the tree.

Kneeling beside her, he looked her over. She looked as if she was about the same age as him, at least as far as he could tell; she had soft, delicate features and her eyelashes were feathery against her pale cheeks. Hair the color of cinnamon lay in a disheveled fluff about her face, with two longer tufts traced across the ground before her and a long ponytail arced behind her, its tip trailed over her hips. It was held in place by a loose, tattered-looking gold ribbon. Marks like red stripes swept down her right side, from her cheek all the way to her ankle, but they seemed more like natural markings than wounds, so Ein didn't look at them too closely.

She really didn't seem to be hurt badly, at first. But there was blood still glistening on the grass around her, half-soaked into the ground, and a few caked lines of it streaked across her thighs and her belly. Ein couldn't see a wound, but that didn't stop him from worrying—no creature could lose _that _much blood and be unhurt.

She had wings, Ein noticed belatedly—broad, jagged, black things that looked nothing like a Grim Angel's wings or an Arc's. So it seemed that she was a Sprite, not a human (though that made sense, since he and Malice were still in Riviera).

Who was she, and what was she doing lying here unconscious like this? A victim of demons, perhaps? But then, wouldn't she have a more obvious injury?

Ein bit back a grimace and laid a hand on her shoulder, preparing to shake her—and then stopped as it hit him.

She wasn't wearing _anything _other than that hair ribbon and a circle of black leather around her neck like a choker… or a collar. The way she lay now, her arm was covering her chest, and her legs were positioned that he couldn't see anything, but if he _moved _her…

Ein pulled his hand away like he'd been bitten and scooted back with a little yelp, feeling his face start to burn. Gods, _now _what was he supposed to do?

"Are we _afraid _of naked girls?" came a teasing voice from behind him. Ein nearly jumped out of his skin, whirled around, and saw that Malice was standing at the edge of the clearing with a smirk on her face.

"What are you _doing _back there?" Ein demanded. "Can't you take this godsdamned _seriously? _She's hurt, but I can't tell how badly or where!"

Malice rolled her eyes but started forward. "Oh, don't be such a _baby._ I'll do it, so…"

But as she drew closer, she suddenly stopped dead, frowned, then covered a tiny gasp. As Ein looked up at her, he saw that her face had gone a bloodless white, and that her eyes were wide with shock or horror.

"Malice, what is it?" Ein asked, confused. "Do you know her?"

She didn't answer him, but knelt at the girl's side and put a hand on her forehead. "What in Hel is _she _doing here?"

Ein watched as Malice carefully and competently felt at the girl's throat for a pulse with a look of concentration on her face, and frowned. "…Who is she?"

But Malice was either too intent on the girl's heartbeat to reply or just plain unwilling to. Ein sighed, shook his head, and slid his pack from his shoulders.

"Look, here…" Malice glanced up as Ein held out one of his spare shirts. "I don't want to hang around while you check her over. It just wouldn't feel right. So call me when you're done… and once she's, you know, decent."

Malice shook her head at him, but snatched the shirt out of his grip. "Fine. If you're absolutely _determined _to act as though you're going to burst into flames and wither to dust if you see a naked girl—which you most definitely are not—then find a campsite and get out of my hair already."

And with that, she began to feel for broken bones along the girl's sides. Engaging the impenetrable mental block against bad thoughts, Ein pulled a face at her back, turned, and left the clearing, looking for some other suitable place for them to stop for the night.

---

"Well, I'm definitely no healer or doctor, but I think I've fixed her up as well as I can," Malice said with a sigh and a shake of her head as she deposited the girl (now wearing Ein's shirt, which thankfully covered her to the tops of her thighs) next to the campfire.

"What was wrong with her?" Ein wanted to know, shifting to look up at Malice.

"She didn't have any broken bones or any external injuries but bruises," was the reply. "She was bleeding from the inside, but she seems to have stopped for now."

A disturbed look crossed Ein's face. "You mean… that blood I saw…"

Malice scowled at him. "Oh, get a grip, will you? That was _not _menstrual bleeding. I think that after six years of experiencing the real thing, I should be able to tell the difference." Ein went crimson and fell silent. "She was definitely hurt, but she's doing better now. She should come around sometime soon." And with that, she pulled a strip of jerked bacon from a pouch at her hip and started eating.

"Who is she?" Ein asked softly after watching Malice for a while. "Please don't pretend that you don't know her. It's obvious that you recognize her from somewhere. If we know who she is, then we can find out somewhere safe to leave her before we get to Asgard…"

Malice stared levelly at him. "If she wants to tell you who she is, she'll tell you herself when she wakes up, but what I _can _tell you is that the last time I saw her, she was working for Hector, like me. She's a Sprite, as you can probably tell, and she has magic of her own, so she should be able to take care of herself in any fight, but I don't really know why she's out here by herself. If Hector sent her out for something, she would have at least one demon or angel guard with her."

"But, wait… if she worked for Hector, then how did she get here? Wouldn't she be on Goriate with him or something?"

Malice shook her head. "She must have run away."

Ein looked down at the still-unconscious girl, bewildered. "How did one girl get out of Hector's clutches on her own like that…?"

"Like I said: She has magic, _powerful _magic. Hector's troops were probably scared of her, too. Maybe it hasn't gotten through your thick head yet, but Hector likes his allies strong." With that, Malice resumed eating, and Ein was left to keep watching the girl with a concerned expression on his face.

---

The strange girl didn't wake up until the next morning.

Ein—still watching her out of worry—reached over and shook Malice's shoulder as he saw the girl's eyelids start to flutter, then knelt at her side.

"Hey… can you hear me? Are you okay?"

She opened her eyes, then slowly looked up towards him with a disoriented look on her face.

_She's actually kind of cute, _Ein suddenly realized as the girl's reddish-brown eyes flicked over his features worriedly, as though she was trying to gauge whether or not he meant her harm. _She reminds me a little of…_

He felt pain stab through him and shook his head to stop the thought. Now wasn't the time to start down that road, not when he and Malice had to get to Heaven's Gate as quickly as they could.

"I'm Ein," he told the girl gently. "What's your name?"

"………" She edged back slightly, wide-eyed with a wary expression on her face.

Ein made a face. "Can you understand me? I'm not going to do something bad to you…"

So saying, he held out a hand to her; she jolted backwards, with an arm up as if to shield herself from an impending blow. Her gaze was fixed on Ein, and he could see that the pupils of her eyes were so dilated that her eyes seemed almost black with her terror.

"Move," Malice instructed Ein from behind him. With a sigh, he did.

The girl seemed to relax a little once he was away, and she shifted her attention towards Malice, who had taken her face in both hands in order to keep the girl's eyes on her.

"You recognize _me, _don't you?" Malice asked at length. "Look… you can trust him. He's an idiot sometimes, but he wouldn't do anything to hurt anyone unless he had to. Do you understand?"

"………" The girl slowly pulled herself into a sitting position, and turned worried eyes on Ein.

"He won't hurt you," Malice said slowly and clearly.

"………" The girl reluctantly bowed her head in acknowledgement.

Malice frowned. "…What's up with you, anyway? Why aren't you saying anything?"

"I don't think she _can _talk," Ein said helplessly.

"Oh, she's _perfectly _capable of that," Malice informed him. "…She just _won't."_

"I've heard of people undergoing enough trauma that they become unable to speak… or just choose not to," Ein suggested. "And if someone hurt or scared her, then maybe…"

Malice remained as silent as the girl, wearing a pensive but otherwise unreadable expression.

"Who could've done this to her, anyway?" Ein pressed. "She was in really bad shape when we found her—even _I _could tell that, whether I could see a wound or not…"

Malice shrugged, her face expressionless. "If she did something to displease Hector, either he or one of his demons might have hurt her as a punishment. And if that's true, then it might be the reason she ran."

Ein's insides clenched. "That's just not right."

"It's the way of the world." Malice's eyes were cold, her words blunt. "Hector controls his troops by means of discipline. You can't say that you wouldn't expect something like that. There's little other way for him to keep command of demons."

"But this girl is a Sprite," Ein protested. "And besides, it's still wrong to try to manipulate someone through the threat of death or beatings or whatever it is that Hector has been doing! If your people only fear you, then there's no way to stop them from rebelling against you!"

"Ein, would you just _think_ for half a second before you start spewing accusations?" Malice snapped. "When you first met Ursula and she separated you from your precious friends, what did _she _do to keep you under control? She _tortured _you, and then she sealed your powers and your memory so that she could twist you around to her means! That's no different from what Hector does."

Ein flushed. "That's…"

"If you're going to say it was necessary, then don't look down on Hector's methods," Malice told him.

The two of them glared at each other.

"………!" The girl looked from one of them to the other with a distressed expression and shook her head pleadingly.

Ein sighed. "…Yeah. You're right. We shouldn't be fighting now, we have more important things to worry about…"

"Hmph." Malice crossed her arms, but didn't say anything more.

"…So, what should we do with her?" Ein asked after an awkward silence. "It's not like we can just leave her here, not when she's like this. And if we took her back to Elendia… she might not be welcome if they found out she used to work for Hector. That would take too much time, anyway."

"So what do you suggest?" Malice wanted to know.

"I think… we may have to take her with us," Ein said with a shrug. "You said she has magic, right? So she'll be able to help us get through Heaven's Gate, and she won't hold us back in battle."

"Ein… do you realize what you're doing?" Malice asked him slowly. "Hector is not going to be happy that she got away from him. He'll send demons after her, and that is definitely going to slow us down more than we can afford."

"That's fine with me," was Ein's reply. "And if Hector comes in person… well, that'll just make my job a lot easier. So I don't care."

"You're a fool," Malice informed him.

"Call me what you like, but I'm not just going to leave her here. I've failed to protect too many people so far—Ledah, Rose, the girls, the people of Riviera… If I'm going to try to save the world, then I'm going to have to start with whoever's right in front of me, and right now, that's _her." _There was a fire in Ein's face as he spoke, and the determination in his eyes could barely be classified as sane. "So don't you try to stop me."

Malice rolled her eyes at him. "Fine. Whatever. Do what you want. See what I care."

Ein sighed, then turned back to the girl. "I'm sorry about all that," he said softly. "I don't want to seem like I'm forcing you into something you don't want… would you like to come with us? I promise I'll protect you for as long as I have the power to do so."

"………?" The girl looked at him with a question in her eyes.

"Hector… your former master… is responsible for the deaths of everyone I've ever loved," he explained. "I swear I won't let him do to you what he did to them."

"………" The girl remained silent, although her eyes flickered with something Ein didn't quite recognize.

"Please… won't you come with us?" he asked again, and held out his hand.

"………" The girl looked to Malice, who shrugged one shoulder at her, then back to Ein… and, reaching out hesitantly, placed her small hand in his palm.

"Thank you," Ein told her with a smile, and wrapped his fingers around hers. "Malice and I will do everything we can for you… so don't worry. Nobody's going to hurt you anymore."

"No matter how much you want to, you can't protect her forever," Malice said in a low voice, shaking her head at the two of them.

Ein turned to her. "Malice, did you say something?"

She glanced at him, then away. "I said, we should get moving. We can't afford to stay here any longer… we won't get to Heaven's Gate in time if we just loiter around, you know."

Ein grimaced. "You're right… let's go."

:TBC:


	5. Damage

The Tainted

See disclaimer in part 1

_"Cierra!"_

_Ein ran, his lungs on fire, plowing through the delicate white flowers that scattered across the bloodred field with its darkened sky towards the distant figure on the hilltop who was slowly but surely walking away._

_"Cierra, wait! Please wait! Don't go!"_

_Terror flooded Ein's body and tears burned in his eyes as he ran, praying to all the gods that he wouldn't be too late to save her this time, to pull her back and take her to safety._

_"Cierra!"_

_But when Ein reached her at last and grabbed her shoulder to turn her around…_

_"You?!"_

_It wasn't Cierra at all, but the silent, wounded girl, with her fearful eyes and her strangely empty face…_

---

Ein lurched upright, soaked in sweat, gasping, with tears on his face.

"Just a dream…" he said aloud, and looked around the campsite to steady himself.

Malice and the girl were both asleep, as they had decided that they should risk a demon attack out of their need for rest. The girl was too weak to take watch and would have no way to let them know should an enemy appear, and though Malice wouldn't admit to it, the long nights awake were starting to wear her down; Ein himself was still in no condition to stay up anyway.

Sighing, Ein wiped the tears away. It had hurt so much to see Cierra there, just out of reach… but even more overpowering was the shock of seeing his new companion in her place.

She was curled on her side, sleeping deeply, as frail and innocent as any child… and in the low light, the cinnamon brown of her hair could easily be mistaken for red. She looked more like Cierra than ever…

Or… wait. Did she really look like Cierra? Ein frowned as he watched her, realizing that he'd seen that peaceful expression on Fia's face many times over their journey when she was sleeping or exhausted or relieved.

Ein shook his head to clear it, though he was still shaken to the core.

"…Who are you…?"

---

"You seem awfully cheerful today."

"Huh?" Ein blinked at Malice, who was giving him a strange look from over her shoulder.

"You're not talking, you're not _listening _if I say something, and you've been staring off into the distance ever since you woke up," she informed him, disgruntled. "If there's something wrong, spit it out already. Watching you mope around is making me sick."

Ein sighed. "It's nothing."

"Bullshit." Malice put her hands on her hips and glowered at him. "But if you don't want to say anything, I can't make you. Just get your head out of the clouds before something—"

There was a sudden crash in the trees ahead that made her jerk around.

"Damn it…" And without any more warning, Malice had Skadi in her hands and was charging off.

"Malice, wait!" Ein yelled, but she ignored him.

"………" The girl drew close to Ein, looking down the path ahead with worried eyes.

"Don't look like that," he told her with a smile. "It'll be okay. Malice and I are here to protect you… come on, let's go."

She nodded, and the two of them headed after Malice.

"Feel the weight of your sins—**_Blue Sophia!"_**

There was a crash, and then pained screams, that told Ein they'd probably just avoided running into a party of demons—then a masculine voice yelling "regroup!" and Malice's angry cry of "No, you don't!"

Ein cursed, pulled out Einherjar, and rushed past the girl to slice through the cover of the foliage into a shaded clearing where Malice was swinging her Diviner at a party of demon soldiers and knights.

"Malice, look out! Behind you!"

Malice lunged forward as Ein rushed from the woods to run through an undead lancer who had been trying to sneak up on her.

"Pull yourselves together!" the demons' leader ordered. "There are only two of them! Besides, the sooner you finish them, the sooner we can get back to trying to find that broad—she can't have gotten far!"

_So they really are looking for that girl, _Ein thought to himself. _Hector sent out search parties to find her this quickly…? He must really want her back… but why?_

"Forget it! You're not getting her!" he yelled, skidding through the leaves until he could change directions and go after the demon in command.

To his shock, the demon started to laugh. "You can't be serious! You mean you actually _found _her and you want to _protect _her? Do you have any _idea _what that girl really is?"

"It doesn't matter," Ein said vehemently. "If she's trying to escape from Hector—then obviously she doesn't want to be his ally any longer, and so I'm honor-bound to defend her!"

The demon shook his head at the angel, laughing even harder now. "Honor-bound! How pathetic! You—you're that Grim Angel, aren't you? You really have no idea just what it is that you're hiding from us! And to think, you're sheltering the reason your pretty little friends died screaming…"

_"What?" _Ein dug his heels into the dust, his face going white, but before the demon could reply, one of his men let out a sudden shout.

"Sir! It's—it's her, sir!"

Ein whirled to see that the girl had finally reached the edge of the trees.

She was shaking, and her face was bloodlessly pale, but as Ein watched, she flapped her wings once in an almost defiant gesture and took a step forward, holding out one hand towards the demons.

_"Retreat!" _the demons' leader called. "Get out of here now unless you want to die!"

As the demon soldiers crashed back through the brush, Malice walked over to Ein and crossed her arms with a scoff.

"They're afraid of her," she remarked. "Maybe even more so than she is of them. How pathetic."

Ein sheathed Einherjar and turned back towards the girl. She was still shaking, standing with her eyes closed and her clenched fists at her sides. As he watched her, Ein felt the brief ripple of magic through the air…

…and cried out as he noticed the blood running thick and steady down the insides of her thighs, just before her knees buckled.

"Hey! Are you okay?!"

Dashing to her side, Ein managed to catch her just before she hit the ground. Though he shook her gently, she didn't respond.

"It looks like she's fainted," Malice commented, joining him.

"But what could've caused this to happen?" Ein demanded, turning to her in a panic. "She… she was too far away for those demons to have done anything… I don't understand…!"

"Calm down," Malice ordered him. "…For now, it seems like we'll just have to make camp. It's not like she can travel in this condition, anyway."

"What's going on?" Ein asked plaintively. "Who is she, and why does Hector want her so badly? Why were the demons so afraid of her, and why is this happening? Does this have something to do with who she is, or…?"

"I _said, _calm down," Malice snapped. "There's no way we can know exactly what's happening to her unless you let me take a look, since she can't tell us herself. So just stop freaking out already and get some firewood! You're not helping at all like this!"

"I…" Ein shook his head, took a deep breath, and nodded, subdued. "I know. I will. But…"

"Then do it, before I lose my patience with you," was all Malice said before she removed the girl from his arms and walked off.

Ein sighed in frustration and went to do as he was ordered.

---

When he got back, the space Malice had chosen as their campsite was a bloody ruin.

The girl lay propped against their supplies, looking little better than half-conscious with the shirt she wore covered in red stains. Her breathing was deep and even, but her chest rasped as it rose and fell, and Ein could see sweat shining against her too-pale skin. Malice knelt at her side, murmuring something in an unusually gentle tone, the girl's limp hand in both of her own.

"What happened here…?" Ein asked slowly, dropping his wood with a clatter.

"Shh." Malice gave him a warning glare. "Start the fire. I'll explain later, when she's asleep. She just did something very difficult and very dangerous, and she doesn't need you worrying her right now. Understand?"

Ein nodded, numb and shaking. As he gathered up the sticks, twigs, and chopped-off tree branches together and struck flint on the side of a knife to make them spark into flame, he continued to watch Malice and the girl out of the corner of his eye. Malice was acting so kindly towards her that Ein just couldn't help but wonder—both why she was being this way, and who the girl was in the first place to inspire Malice's sympathy like this.

Finally, Malice left the girl's side and sat down next to Ein, staring into the small fire.

"That girl has very powerful magical abilities that aren't even fully under her control," she began suddenly, speaking in a low voice so that Ein had to lean in a little to make sure he got her words. "As to what they are, it's simple to explain: She has the ability to destroy."

"Destroy… what?" Ein prodded.

"Anything, I would imagine. That's why Hector wanted her, of course. The Magi, and maybe Grim Angels, have enough power of their own to deflect her magic, so he would've been able to stand up to any attack she made on him, but Hector's ground troops wouldn't have been able to defend themselves against her. That's why they're afraid of her. If they don't catch her unawares, she can easily kill just about anything that comes after her."

"Then… if that's true, then who hurt her?" Ein asked.

"Simple. She did it to herself," Malice told him.

_"What? _Why?" Ein demanded, aghast, though he managed to keep his voice low.

"Because it was the only way she knew to get rid of what was inside of her," was Malice's answer, given with a small shrug as she stared into the flames.

"Are you telling me… that she…?" Ein said slowly, shaking his head.

"You can put it together yourself, can't you?" Malice's eyes were cold as she looked back over to him. "Why she's so afraid of men. Why she won't speak. How she was hurt, and where. She may be naïve, but she's not stupid. She was pregnant. She knew it, and she used her power to force her body to miscarry rather than carrying and giving birth to a nasty reminder she wouldn't be able to stand."

"Oh, _gods." _Ein looked back over to the girl where she slept, sickened. "That's horrible… who could've _done _such a thing…? Hector? His demons? Who could be so cruel to a girl like her?"

Malice just shook her head. "Like I said before… if she did something to displease them, they would've punished her."

Ein shook his head, reeling from the shock. "That's… that's insane."

"It's the way of things."

Ein stared at her. _"Listen _to you! You're talking about a teenage girl being—being raped and brutalized! How can you act so cold? Punishment or not, that kind of thing shouldn't happen to anyone! It's just sick!" Pointing to the girl, he grabbed Malice's shoulder and shook her. "If that was _you _lying there, you sure wouldn't be able to talk like that! You're a _woman, _and it easily _could _be you there! So why…?"

Malice pried Ein's fingers away and shoved him back. "You really don't get it, do you? Sometimes, punishment is necessary. Sometimes punishment is too harsh—but you can't look at it as anything other than what it is."

"What it _is, _is torture," Ein retorted.

"And as for my 'feminine sympathies'… well, you don't get that, either. Sometimes, looking at a thing analytically and coldly is all you can do. It keeps me from losing my head, unlike _you,_ at the very least."

Ein just shook his head and backed away from her, all the while staring at her cold and unfeeling expression as if he didn't know her at all.

"The bottom line is, she's been doing this by inches for a long time. She's in a lot of pain, and she's lost a lot of blood. So don't bother her. Got it?"

"I… understand," Ein said at last. "At least… I understand her. But I don't understand _you._ What made you like this…? Why can't you realize how cruel Hector and his people have been…?"

Malice gave him that cold look again and didn't respond.

---

The girl didn't wake up until the next morning.

While she'd slept, Malice had gone off in search of the river in order to wash the blood off her body; Ein had volunteered another shirt (as the one she'd been wearing was ruined) and made sure to stay far, far away from the stream until his fellow Grim Angel returned. Worried for her, Ein also gave her his bedroll for the night and took half the watch for Malice so that neither of them would have to sleep on the ground. And after breakfast, he had proceeded to hover anxiously around her even after Malice snapped at him for it.

His patience was rewarded when she finally opened her eyes and looked dizzily up at him.

"Thank the gods," Ein exclaimed with a weak smile. "I was so worried…"

"………?" She sat up slowly and looked at him with a question in her eyes.

"Malice… explained some things to me last night," Ein told her awkwardly. "I know I've been stupid, and I should've realized everything earlier, but… there's still a lot that it's hard for me to understand. I'm just glad you're okay… I was really worried about you. Especially… after all you've had to go through already… I'm just glad you have the strength to sit up and look at me."

The girl sighed a little and hunched her shoulders where she sat, her wings curling slightly.

"I promise, I won't let him get you again," Ein said softly. "Hector is… an evil person. The Hector I looked up to as a child, the hero who helped save Asgard during Ragnarok… seems as though he's been gone for a long time. We have to stop him from hurting anyone else the way that he and his demons hurt you… so I just…" He sighed. "It's unfair of me to ask you this, but… just have faith in Malice and me a little longer. We'll take care of you."

As the girl watched him, he held out a hand to her, fully prepared for her to flinch back or slap it away. She had all the reasons in the world to reject him, after all.

Instead, she laid her hand in his—then flung herself into his arms.

"Whoa!" Shocked and embarrassed, Ein hesitated for a moment, then looked down at the girl. She was clinging to him with her hands tight in his jacket and silent tears on her face.

After a few uncertain moments, Ein put an arm around her and held her tight.

"I'll protect you," he swore. "No matter what happens, no matter who tries to take you back—Malice and I will protect you. You don't have to be afraid anymore."

Malice herself, who had been busy packing up the campsite, turned to them with her usual half-annoyed poker face… then smiled wryly and threw up her hands with a sigh.

"Come on, you two. We're going to have to get moving if we want to get to Heaven's Gate anytime soon, you know."

Ein and the girl let go of each other and turned to her. "Okay."

And they headed back down the road, with Malice in the lead and Ein and the girl hand in hand.

Looking at the girl—and the tremulous smile on her face—Ein couldn't help but smile in return.

_I know… that as long as Malice and I are here to help her… that she's going to be okay. And I'm sure that soon… she's going to start talking in an adorable voice. Because she's… so much like them… after all…_

:TBC:


	6. Aces High

The Tainted

(see disclaimer in part 1)

_"…It looks like opening this magic circle is going to require a spell," Cierra proclaimed after bending down and examining the half-erased emblem in the middle of the crystal walkway._

_"Really? How can you tell?" Serene wanted to know._

_"Well, it would be difficult to draw the rest of this in," the scarlet witch explained. "See—the parts that are still here have been scratched into the crystal with such precision that it couldn't have been done by hand. And even if we had my set of magical chalks for inscribing circles, that would take too much time. We have to get moving and defeat the last Dark Progenitors, and stop Hector… right?"_

_Ein turned to his friend and smiled. "Sure. You know a lot more about this than the rest of us, so just tell us what we have to do, okay?"_

_Cierra giggled. "Of course, Ein!"_

---

"Man… when is this forest gonna let up?" Ein groaned, sighing and hanging his head. "Shouldn't we be at Heaven's Gate by now…?"

Malice growled. "Like I've been telling you—it's still about a day's walk away. Now will you shut _up? _I can't take another second of your complaining! Shouldn't you _know _how far away it is, idiot?"

Ein made a face at her. "Easy for you to say. _I've _never taken this road before. In case you don't recall, Ursula sent me straight from the gate itself to Elendia, so I have plenty of right to ask."

"Be that as it may, I've answered the same stupid question over and over for the past three hours, and I _really _think you need to shut up now," Malice retorted, giving him a jaundiced glare.

"But my feet hurt and I'm starving and we haven't made a decent camp for the past few days," Ein protested, sulking.

Malice pointed at the girl, who started a little in surprise. "You don't see _her _complaining, do you? She doesn't even have shoes or personal bags with food like you do—and she hasn't given me so much as one pathetic look! _You, _on the other hand, have those things… and therefore no excuse. So just shut up and walk, 'cause you aren't getting to Heaven's Gate any faster like this!"

"But—"

Before Ein could argue, the girl stepped in between the two of them, waving her hands in a "stop" gesture with an awkward look on her face. "…………!"

Ein sighed and grimaced. "…Okay, okay. You're right. We really shouldn't argue." Scuffing the toe of his shoe in the dirt, he turned to Malice. "…Sorry."

Momentarily taken aback by his ready apology, Malice shrugged one shoulder and looked around. "…Don't worry about it. I know we haven't exactly been taking anyone's limits into account… but remember, we've still got demons out looking for us, and with just the three of us and no one in top condition, I'd rather avoid fights until we get this seal or whatever on you taken off by everyone at Asgard."

"Alright… let's go," Ein said with a sigh.

---

_"…I've got it!"_

_Ein turned to Cierra with a smile. "Really? That's great! Good work, Cierra."_

_Later, he would think back to the way that her expression had remained pensive, that she'd lacked her usual happy-go-lucky look of triumph. But at the time, it didn't really register; he was too worried about taking the fight to Hector and finishing things before anyone else ended up like poor Ledah._

_"Okay, everyone—stand together on the glyph. I'll have to be outside it to activate it, and the less of a scramble there is to get on later, the easier things will go."_

_"But, Cierra, will you be able to get on in time?" Fia asked, worried._

_The redheaded witch smiled and shook her head. "Don't worry about me. I'll have the glyph up and running soon."_

---

Ein halted in the middle of chopping through a thicket of brambles with his Diviner so that their group could cross it to wipe sweat off his forehead and take a few deep breaths.

It had been hours since their last stop, and he was starting to feel a little faint—though he'd be damned if he was going to admit that with Malice around; she'd probably just snap at him and order him onward once more.

"So, Ein…"

"Yeah…?" He looked at Malice tiredly; she'd halted her advance through the thicket to watch him, leaning on Skadi as she stared.

"What's your plan of attack once we _leave _Asgard?" she asked shrewdly. "I don't know about you, but no matter how powerful you become after we get back to Riviera, I doubt that we can get through all of Hector's guards with just you and me—or even with _her _help." She shrugged a shoulder to indicate the girl, who was sitting on a boulder nearby. "Are you gonna ask for a regiment of soldiers or something?"

Ein made a face. "I… kind of don't want to endanger anyone that way. Besides, most of the angels in Asgard wouldn't be able to stand up to the demons, let alone Hector. I was thinking that maybe… maybe Celina-sama would help us…"

It was Malice's turn to grimace and roll her eyes. "Celina…? But she's a little… well…"

"…?" The girl turned a questioning glance from one of her companions to the other.

"Celina Mizer," Ein told her. "She's another one of the Seven Magi, but she's not like Hector at all. She may be a little eccentric and excitable sometimes, but… she's always been very kind to me. She always looked out for me and my friend Ledah when we were little, and once we became Grim Angels, she took him as a sort of protégé and oversaw my training. When Hector insisted that we go to Riviera before I'd learned everything I needed to, Celina was the one who suggested that I get a Familiar." At the memories of his lost friends, Ein sighed, his expression growing slightly wistful. "And… I don't think she and Hector really get along. So I think she might decide to come with us… maybe."

"…?" The girl looked at Malice, who still seemed aggravated.

"Celina's a bit over-the-top for me, is all," Malice said with a shake of her head. "She can get a little crazy sometimes."

"I admit, eccentric," Ein repeated. "But she's a good person."

Malice stuck her hand on her hip and started to reply, then whipped her head around towards the path behind them, the onyx black of her eyes suddenly going sharp and dangerous. "…Shit. I just heard branches snapping. We've got company."

Ein groaned. "Damn it… demons _would _show up now, wouldn't they?"

"…I don't like this. I've got a bad feeling. Keep chopping—if we run, we might make it to Heaven's Gate before they catch up to us, and then we'll be able to defend ourselves in the open."

With a sigh, Ein hoisted his Diviner. "With our luck, they'll still catch us before we're done."

But before he could start swinging, the girl—who'd been standing quietly and listening to them go on as usual—tapped him on the shoulder, then gently motioned for him to stand back.

"Huh? What are you doing?"

As an answer, she held out her hand towards the bushes, narrowing her eyes. A mage's wind spun the air around her, tossing her hair and the shirt she'd borrowed from Ein, and a transparent blast of power liquefied the wall of brambles ahead of them.

Malice whistled, impressed. "Well… I guess that solves the problem for us, doesn't it?"

"I guess so." Ein turned to the girl with a slight smile and tousled her hair. "Thanks."

The smile—and the V-for-victory sign she flashed him—in return were more precious than any treasure Ein could've thought to receive.

"Alright, you two, that's enough—we'd better—"

Before Malice could finish speaking, there was a crash of breaking wood behind them, and demons started to spill into the area.

_"Shit! _Let's go!"

Before Ein could even begin to react, Malice had grabbed him by the wrist and she was off at a run, dragging him along with her.

---

_"…Sorry to keep everyone waiting," Cierra said at last. "I'm ready."_

_"Please hurry," Ein urged her. "If we don't…"_

_She nodded. "I know. Just wait a little longer—I'll have the circle running in a minute." And, so saying, she stepped onto the mark she'd made on the floor, the place she'd determined was best suited for casting._

_Ein watched impatiently as Cierra held out her staff and began to murmur in an arcane language he didn't completely understand. Pale lights began to flicker around her, and ever so slowly, the broken glyph beneath their feet began to glow, the disrupted lines joining to form the same magic circle they had used to move between the layers of the Triple Strata before._

_"It's working!" Serene said triumphantly. "Not bad, Cierra!"_

_The lights surrounding the scarlet-haired witch dissipated, and the circle began to glow even brighter._

_"It's already activating—hurry, Cierra!" Fia called._

_Silence._

_"…Cierra…?" Ein said slowly, at last beginning to sense that something was wrong._

_That was when he saw the faint, smoky tendrils of shadow that had encircled Cierra's ankles._

---

"Malice, you can… slow down… I think we… I think we lost them!" Ein panted, trying to dig his heels into the ground to make Malice stop.

She looked back at him for a moment, then gradually slowed her pace to a walk as they hit another small clearing. "…It looks like you're right…"

"Thank… the gods…" Ein managed before sinking to his knees out of both exhaustion and sheer gratitude for the short breather.

"You're really out of shape, you know?" Malice told him with a scowl, looking between Ein and the girl, who was also hunched over, gasping for breath. "We're just lucky that those sons of bitches were wearing plate armor. And you know that we'll have to get going soon."

Ein made a face. "Yes, _mother."_

Malice shook her head at him and started to turn away, but Ein, suddenly frowning, reached out to pull her back. "What?"

"Your hand. I thought so—you must've hurt it while we were running. Look, it's bleeding." And Ein turned Malice's hand in his so that he could point to the shallow cut along the palm.

Malice looked down at her hand blankly, then shook it a little and shrugged Ein off. "It's just a scratch. No big deal. I didn't even notice it until you told me. Why worry?"

Ein, however, didn't seem to see her reasoning, and instead of letting her pull away, he gently drew her hand back towards him. "Don't act like that. If you leave it out in the open, it'll just keep bleeding and it might get infected. Your Diviner is an axe, so you need both hands to be able to keep fighting. Here…" And he pulled linen out of a pocket in his jacket, then began to quickly and efficiently wrap it around Malice's injured hand. "I'll fix it, so hold still a minute."

Malice just stood and watched, staring at Ein with a strange look on her face—part disbelief, part struggle for comprehension, and part strange vulnerability.

"There you go." With a smile and a flourish, Ein tied the makeshift bandage off. "We'll be able to get a better one made in Asgard—I'm sorry if this is too tight or uncomfortable or whatever, I'm not all that good at stuff like this." Looking up at Malice, Ein frowned. "Hey… what's _that _look for? Is something the matter?"

Malice blinked, then shook her head and removed her hand from Ein's. "I—no. Nothing's wrong. I just spaced out for a second, that's all."

Ein looked at her reproachfully. "Are you sure? You look a little flushed. You act all tough, but are you sure that all this running around hasn't been getting to you, too? Just wait a minute—I think I saw some healing herbs over in the bushes. I'll go get some."

And before Malice could regain her senses enough to snap at him that she was _not _getting sick, thank you very much, off he'd gone to the other side of the path, searching through the foliage for his stupid plant.

Malice shook her head at him, but didn't say anything. What _could _she say? After all, there was no way she could admit the strange feeling she'd had, watching Ein so carefully and so thoughtfully patching up the mildest of wounds out of pure kindness alone.

_But you feel it too, _she thought to herself, glancing at the silent but smiling girl who sat on the forest floor, watching Ein search the bushes. _You have no more love for men than I do, but you're still willing to fling yourself at him every chance you get. That clinging adoration is the exception, not the rule… I know that much about you. Because… because he's different. Because he can be trusted._

Malice glanced back down at the amateurish bandage on her hand and sighed.

"…How stupid…"

With that, she crossed her arms and looked back up, ready to scold Ein into getting his sorry ass out of the plants so that they could get moving.

At that moment, Ein turned halfway around, scratched but smiling, waving a sprig of blue-green leaves in the air triumphantly. "Malice, I got—"

Even Malice only noticed the shadow looming behind the trees a second before—giving her only the time to yell for Ein to look out before the demon general burst from his cover and dealt Ein a vicious blow that sent him sprawling practically right to the girls' feet, unresponsive.

---

_"Cierra, get away from there!"_

_She didn't move. It was almost as though she hadn't heard Ein's cry at all. Instead, she raised up her arms and turned her face towards the skies, wearing the beatific smile of a saint—or a martyr—as power flowed from her to the finally completed magic circle and tangible darkness wound its way up her legs and over her feet, locking her in place._

_"Cierra, what are you **doing?! **Get away from there… or…!"_

_Fia took a step forward and clutched Ein's arm, a strange desperation in her expression as she called out to the Scarlet Witch. "Cierra! You _knew _this would happen, didn't you? Why did you do it, then?"_

_Cierra sighed and lowered her arms. "I guess there's no hiding it from you, is there?" she said with a small shrug. "Yes… I knew it was a trap. It was easy to see for me, after having studied magic so long…"_

_"Then _why?!" _Ein cried, shaking. "Cierra… you know that defeating Hector and saving Riviera would just be an empty victory if we have to sacrifice you to do it!"_

_"Sacrifice?" Cierra repeated, sounding almost surprised. "When did anyone become a sacrifice? Ein… it's true that if we wandered this place long enough, we might find another way, but it might be too late if we did that. If by doing this, I am able to get you to Hector faster, it's worth it. You're not forcing me into a fate I can't or don't want to accept. I believe in you, and in the vision you have for this land. Riviera has always been torn between the interests of greater powers. When the demons lived here, the Sprites and the land were forced into bondage. After Ragnarok, Riviera was the most convenient place to put the Sprites in order to separate us from humans. Now Hector wants to tear the land apart just to get to the powers the gods placed within it. To everyone else, Riviera is a pawn on a chessboard, but to you… to you, we Sprites have our own value, and Riviera is something worth saving._

_"I'm doing this because I want this land to be saved… and because I know you have the power to save it. You can do it, Ein… with or without me." Cierra smiled. "Thanks for the adventure, Ein… it was the most fun I've had for a long time…"_

_"Cierra, please—don't talk like that," Ein begged her. "There's still time! Hurry up and come here with us so that we can all go together…"_

_"It's too late for that," Cierra told him. "This is a binding spell… I can't move my body at all. Just go—don't worry about me. There are more important things at stake here."_

_"But, Cierra—" Ein shook his head numbly, his eyes blurring with tears. "I swore that I was never going to lose anyone else the way I lost Ledah—how could I ever—"_

_Cierra laughed._

_"Don't you understand, Ein? Ledah was never just a sacrifice either. He chose his path for the same reasons I chose mine—because we believe in you. Because… we _love_ you. So—I have to do everything in my power to help you, no matter what that means for me, right? Now, hurry—go! Don't worry about me. Everything will be okay. Don't forget what's most important here, Ein."_

_"But, Cierra—"_

_The red-haired witch slowly extended her arm towards her friends, trembling violently, and whispered something in a language they couldn't understand. To Ein, her words sounded like one last, desperate gasp for life._

_Light flowed from her palm to the circle; though Ein continued to call for her, his vision of her blurred and shifted even as she sank to the crystal floor in surrender._

_It was the last time he ever saw her alive._

---

"Hey, wake up!"

Ein coughed and groaned and curled tightly into a ball, his face contorted with agony. But other than that, he didn't move—apparently, he couldn't. It looked to Malice like he was in too much pain.

Well, she wasn't surprised, after Ein had taken a hit that hard from the pole of an axe. The physical trauma of something like that could be momentarily crippling to just about anyone. The problem was… well, that the big demon with the axe wasn't their only problem.

"Who are you and why the hell do you have so many damn soldiers?" Malice snapped tersely, glaring at the demons' leader as she crouched protectively over Ein, Skadi in her free hand.

"It's a shame that you don't recognize us," the demon told her with a mocking sigh. "But then, you always seemed to be too busy with Master Hector to even take notice of the rest of us. We're Fifth Infantry. Our support squad's been leading you right to us all this time."

Looking from one face to the next, Malice cursed under her breath. There had to be at least thirty of them that she could see. "What the hell do you want?!"

"Well, it's obvious we're not here for _you. _The master wants his _new _toy back." The demon gestured to the girl with a smirk. She was standing close to Malice, and so overwhelmed with terror that she was visibly shaking like a leaf in a windstorm. "Oh, and your wingless friend is getting annoying—therefore, he needs to die. Get out of the way, Ructor, or this is going to get ugly."

_Damn it all, there's no way I can defeat every one of them like this—not when I have these two to protect! _Malice gritted her teeth and moved her hands along Skadi's shaft. _But… I've got to at least try…_

"Malice…"

Jolting in shock, she looked down. It was Ein.

"Take her… and… run…" Still reeling, the wingless angel tried to push himself up, only getting as far as elbows and knees. "Can't… risk… like this… just… _go…"_

"Are you _crazy?!" _Malice snapped, her voice shrill with tension. "Do you want to get yourself _killed? _There's _no way _you can take out this many demons in your condition! Do us all a favor and stay put, you little _idiot!"_

And she shoved him firmly back to the ground for good measure.

Furious and frantic, Malice whipped around to stare at the girl, who was still frozen by her terror. "And there's no way I can do this by myself! You can't possibly think that running away is going to solve all your problems?! You have to stand up on your own two feet and _fight! _Look at you—faced with one or two big strong demons, you just turn into jelly, when you should be able to have them running home scared to their mamas with _one look!"_

The girl turned uncertainly towards Malice and Ein (still struggling just to stay conscious). She still shook, and her eyes were black and empty with fear. But in her face there was something desperate, something that wanted to hold on to Malice's words and turn them into strength.

"I mean it," Malice said slowly and deliberately as the demons snickered to each other in the background. "Call the Sacred Spear. You don't have it in you to take this lying down. The day I left—I saw what you did to Hector. Those bruises—that blood—you…" Malice shook her head, sighed, and forced the words, trembling with the effort they cost. "You _fought! _And you _hurt _him! That's—that's more than I was _ever _able to do! So… this… you can do this if you stop cutting yourself off, if you stop making yourself weak!"

"…………" The girl looked from Malice to the demons and back again, wavering.

"And… think of it this way. If… if you die here? No one's going to take you back to him."

"…………"

Malice clenched her fists so hard that she felt her nails bite into her skin. _"Do it! _Don't hesitate! _Use your power, Seth!"_

Those looking into the young girl's face would've sworn that they could see fear and anxiety falling from her like severed chains.

She held out a hand, her expression fierce and decisive. The air rippled, and something in between a lance and a twisted trident fell into her open fingers.

She lunged. The air cracked around her. Demons that had been laughing only seconds ago screamed as a swipe of the ancient holy weapon separated them from their extremities.

The demons' general began barking out orders, but no one would follow them. Hector's infantry dissolved into waves of terrified dead and dying as the one they'd been sent to capture tore the air with violent gestures, cutting them off at every turn. Fell magic sang through the air, making the watching angels' hair stand on end just as much as the slaughter before them.

Blood rained in the forests of Riviera that day.

And Ein—barely conscious, his vision failing him and the world tilting crazily—saw one thing more clearly than he ever had before.

The fragile child he had sheltered and protected for so long stood amidst piles of disemboweled carcasses and split trees, her small shoulders and her black wings heaving, blood dripping from the familiar-looking spear in her hands. Her expression was as smooth as a marble façade, and an unholy power lay within her eyes.

"…Seth…"

The word cost more effort than Ein had left in his battered body. Blackness surrounded him, plunging him into the depths of memories and nightmares.

:TBC:


	7. Stockholm's Syndrome

The Tainted

(see disclaimer in Part 1)

Ein came awake slowly to a broad, starry sky, the sound of crackling flames, and a warm presence hovering anxiously at his side. With a soft sigh, he turned towards the light and saw Malice sitting on the opposite side of the fire and the silent girl sitting next to him, watching him out of worried eyes.

He looked back at her for a moment or so, then spoke uncertainly. "Seth… you're Seth, right…?"

She hesitated, then nodded.

"You're… the Seth that was sealed away after Ragnarok… the one that Hector revived to get rid of Ursula… aren't you?"

She looked away from him, but nodded again.

Ein carefully pushed himself into a sitting position, wincing as his sore muscles shuddered in protest. "Don't look like that. I'm not going to hate you for what you are, because that isn't your fault. None of us choose what we were born to be, and if I feared you just because of the way you were made, it would make me such a hypocrite. I… I'm like you, I guess. The only reason I was born was to become a Grim Angel, and I didn't have any more choice than you do about it. So… please don't act like that. It looks like owe you my life. How could I be anything but grateful to you after that?"

"…………" As usual, Seth said nothing, but as she turned back towards him, there was relief so sharp it was painful to see on her face.

"Malice…" She looked up as Ein said her name, her expression as guarded as ever. "I think I should probably thank you, too. I keep doing stupid stuff that puts us all in danger… I'm sorry. And thanks for keeping me out of trouble."

Malice sighed and waved a hand. "Look… if you really want to thank me, then do it by lying down and getting as much rest as you can. You're going to be stiff and bruised no matter what in the morning, but we're only a few hours away from Heaven's Gate and I'd rather get there as soon as possible."

"…You're right." Making a face as his injured muscles protested, Ein leaned back against his bedroll. "But… thank you. For everything."

He closed his eyes, and he was back in the peaceful black ocean of dreamless comfort until the sun rose and the smell of breakfast woke him once again.

---

"Well, here we are."

The forest had smoothed out into a grassy plain a few minutes ago, and Malice was pointing to a series of boulders and other rocky outcroppings up ahead.

Ein mopped his forehead and squinted towards the area she'd indicated. "The magic circle is somewhere over there?"

Malice nodded. "Yup. There's a stone circle around it, and the ground is bare. Nothing'll grow there, but there are white flowers in the grass outside it. Supposedly, the gods' gravesite here in Riviera is something like it. That's where Hector would be now, but he kept saying that Ursula's seal over the place was still too strong. He'd planned to take Seth there to break it so that he'd be able to get in, but…" She shrugged, casting an eye over their silent companion. "She seems to have run off before he got the opportunity. Besides—I don't think Hector has a chance of getting anywhere near that place unless it's over Ursula's dead body. Or whatever you'd call it with her."

"Hnn." Ein sighed, then frowned. "…I think I see it. Who made that?"

Malice shrugged at him. "I have no idea. The standing stones have been in Riviera since long before it became Utgard. Maybe demons put them up before Ragnarok or something."

The three of them headed slowly up to the bare circle of earth and the golden glyph that shimmered at its center, passing under the dolmen arch closest to them. Ein had a brief flash of the broken circle in the Maze of Shadows, but the thought was so painful that he had to push it immediately to the back corners of his mind to stave off tears.

"Once we pass through here, we'll be able to get to the other islands of Heaven's Gate," Malice told him. "I'd say we should take the same direct route you, me, and Ledah all took while getting here in the first place, but there are too many places where we'd have to fly to get up the Sacred Scale and around. We're going to have to take another road, probably the one that goes by where Ancardia used to be."

Ein sighed. "Now that is something I just don't understand. Ancardia was an island on Heaven's Gate thousands of years ago, so why is it still labeled as a hole in the maps and why do people still call it 'where Ancardia used to be'? I don't think people even remember _why _it isn't part of Heaven's Gate anymore. I sure don't. How does one of the floating islands just up and vanish anyway?"

"It didn't up and vanish," Malice said crossly, "there was some fallen angel sealed to it back then and the gods sent it down to Midgard with him. And bickering about it does nothing about the fact that we'll have to pass that way to get to Asgard. Aside from the crow's-flight way, it's the fastest."

Ein made a face at her, then turned to Seth with a grimace. "Will you be okay, though? Heaven's Gate is mostly wasteland and ruins… and you don't even have shoes."

She cocked her head at him for a moment, then shrugged and looked around distractedly.

"That's enough out of you two." Malice was already at the edge of the circle. "Come on, you're wasting time. Let's go."

Ein sighed, then walked up towards her. Seth didn't.

Malice scowled at her. "Hey, what's up with you? I said let's go!"

Instead of jumping to obey Malice's command, Seth looked around again, then sat down on one of the lower slabs of granite, folding her hands in her lap and looking at the two angels pointedly.

"Are you saying… you want to stay here and wait?" Ein asked slowly.

Seth paused, then nodded.

Malice made a face and ran her hand through her hair. "Well, suit yourself. Being in Asgard might be hard on you anyway since you have a Sprite body. We'll be back as soon as we can."

"If you're really sure… then take care of yourself, okay?"

Seth smiled, shook her head, and waved a hand at them, motioning for them to get going.

Ein couldn't bring himself to say goodbye—he'd had too many of those lately—but he smiled and nodded to her before he stepped onto the circle and Riviera swirled and vanished from his sight.

---

When Ein blinked, he was looking out at the vast wasted chain of islands that was Heaven's Gate. Many of the sun-baked stones were black or purple, tainted by the powers that Hector had been gathering.

"Hector's moved to the fringes of Riviera, but he still has demon patrols out here to protect Goriate," Malice said beside him. "So keep your guard up."

He nodded. "…Okay. I will."

"Since you aren't familiar with this part of Heaven's Gate, just follow me," she instructed. "And I know it's like telling you not to breathe, but try not to get in the way."

Ein stared at her for a moment, then smiled wryly. "You know… you sounded almost like Ledah just now. He used to tell me the same thing."

Malice grimaced. "Ugh. _Please._ Don't go putting me on that pathetic, idiotic _romantic's _level. Now come on—you want to talk to Celina, right? Let's move."

"Don't badmouth my friends," Ein said under his breath, but followed her as she picked her way forward over the rubble in mincing steps.

She didn't turn towards him—so he had no way of noticing the bitter torment on her face as she pressed forth through Heaven's Gate.

---

_"Why?" Hector repeated, amused, a cold smile on his face and her blood dripping from his hands. "Because that's the way the world works. The strong conquer the weak, the rich rule the poor, those with doubt are annihilated and those with conviction prevail. It all depends on who you serve: Yourself, the strong, those who benefit you—or those doomed to failure. The gods are long gone from this world, and no one knows if they will ever return. The only justice left is the justice of the Magi—_my_ justice. Whose are you willing to serve? All I do is done for the sake of Asgard. And Asgard will obliterate all that stands against it. Right and wrong are children's substitutes for the mighty and the downtrodden. You understand, don't you?"_

_She shivered from the cold and the pain and looked at him out of dull eyes. The rope chafed her body with her every movement, adding to the pain of a dozen small but expertly placed wounds. She felt hollow and empty and completely, utterly hopeless with the knowledge that he could take her life in the next moment and no one would do anything to stop it—because she deserved any punishment he would give._

_"You understand now, don't you… my dear Malice…?"_

---

Malice bit the inside of her cheek and clenched her fists. _Get out of my mind._

"Is… something wrong, Malice? You're being awfully quiet."

She nailed Ein with a laser-beam glare over her shoulder. "Just shut up and concentrate on where you're going. If you slip and fall, I may or may not be inclined to save your sorry ass."

"Jeez, I was just asking." The wingless angel fell silent, apparently sulking.

Malice shook her head, then turned back to her own thoughts.

_Am I going soft? Ein is too kind a person—it makes him weak. He's naïve and so self-sacrificing it almost makes me sick. People like him disgust me, and yet… sometimes I'm beginning to feel as though I'm too hard on him all the time. It doesn't make any sense. Why should I feel guilty about the way I am? He needs to learn that life isn't just sunshine and puppies._

_Doesn't he…?_

_Hector… always told me that nice people exist to be taken advantage of. That they'll never get anywhere in life, because they're always too caught up in making sure others get there. That they're so foolish that they'll just be used and used until there's nothing left. He always made it sound so stupid and so pointless to show mercy on others. The times I failed, or disappointed him… he made it clear to me that the only reason I remained alive was because I was still useful to him in some way. Pretending that life isn't harsh and unfair doesn't get you anywhere. And I don't believe that's wrong. I don't. I just…_

_What is it about this boy that makes me think that kindness and sympathy… that kinship… isn't just a waste?_

"Malice…?"

She turned and looked at him, confused. "What?"

"I just… you keep spacing out. Is there something wrong with the trail? Or is it something else? You can talk to me, Malice."

_Why does he watch me with such concern, when he knows that just weeks ago I would have killed him as soon as looked at him…? It… makes no sense…_

"I'm… sorry." The words were out of her mouth before she had time to think about them. "It's no big deal. I just… there's a lot of things I have to think about."

"Malice…"

"Don't give me that look," Malice said wearily, pushing her hair back over her shoulders. "This is just… it's just the way I am, you understand? I'm… not the kind of person who worries about other people's feelings when I say things. I don't… really care that much about the pain I might inflict with my words. So I'm not good at thinking about what I say before I say it."

"I know." Ein shrugged. "You don't have to apologize. It's just the way you are."

"And I wish you would stop doing that," she told him, crossing her arms.

Ein looked at her blankly. "What?"

"Stop—being so _nice _all the time. Stop acting like you understand. It's… confusing me." Malice shook her head. "I… I don't even know why I came with you. I honestly don't know why. I owe my existence to Hector. Riviera doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. I should… go back to him and help him in whatever way I still can. Because I know he's right. Hector told me that, and he never had any reason to lie to me. But… here I am, still trailing after you, and I don't know why."

"Hector is in the right?" Ein said softly, apparently carefully choosing his words. "So… Malice, do you think that what happened to Seth is right?"

She shook her head numbly. "No…"

"Do you think it's right to sacrifice the lives of hundreds of innocent people just to accomplish a goal?" Ein asked.

"No… no." Malice shook her head again. "I understand what you're saying, and I agree with you, but… the way Hector explained it also makes sense. Nothing can be achieved without sacrifice. The victory in Ragnarok came about because of the gods' sacrifice. You're only here alive right now because your friends died for you. Hell, even in old children's stories like the legend of Yggdra, the heroes couldn't accomplish their goals unless it was at someone's expense! Hector told me that the Magi themselves rose to their positions through sacrifice, and that he doubted he would've become trusted by the gods if he hadn't sold out friends and companions when they'd planned to betray Asgard. And he says that in order to create his paradise, Riviera must be destroyed. There isn't any other way for him to remake the world."

"I can't agree with you there," Ein said quietly, looking down. "I don't think it's ever right to sacrifice someone for the sake of something else. If the world is to be remade… I wish it could be remade to the way Midgard was before Ragnarok changed everything, a world governed only by wisdom, a place without war. That way, sacrifices wouldn't have to be made anymore. But, Malice…"

And he reached out to take her hands.

"Malice, you're going to have to decide for yourself what it is you believe. When you were with Hector, you let him tell you what to think, and now that you're traveling with me, you're trying to wrap yourself around my point of view. I think… that everyone needs to look at things themselves and choose their own path. It's okay to not be convinced by others. You and I have different things that we will and won't condone. We can try to persuade each other to understand where we come from, but we might not agree with each other even then. That's what makes individual lives so precious to me. I want to understand you."

"There you go again," Malice said with a sigh. "Don't you ever get angry? Don't you want to hate me for what I've done to your friends?"

"Sometimes… yeah," Ein admitted, to her surprise. "It hurts… to not have Ledah with me. When I think too hard about the way he died, I get so angry at everything, and the closest one to blame is you—so I want to take it out on you then. But then, I remind myself that you had your own reasons. Even if I don't know them, even if I don't like them, you had them. And if I want to understand you, I'll have to accept that."

Flushing faintly, Malice removed her hands from hers. "You're… a very strange person."

Ein shook his head at her. "If you think so. Anyway… where do we go from here?"

"Well… we're reaching the road around Ancardia. So it shouldn't be much farther. Just keep following me, and watch out for demons. We haven't seen any yet, but I know they're here in Heaven's Gate, so keep your guard up."

As Ein smiled and nodded his thanks, Malice sighed and glanced away.

_I don't understand… the things I feel when I'm around you…_

---

"Whoa!"

"Don't lean over too far, stupid. You're going to fall if you do. Although I do understand… it certainly is quite a sight."

Ein took a few steps back and scratched his head self-consciously. "Ehh… it's just… this is the first time I've ever seen it up close, you know? It's so… wow. I bet when the clouds clear, you can see all the way down to Midgard."

The two angels stood at the edge of a steep cliff, where a wide, almost-but-not-quite-semicircle was formed along the side of the islands that made up Heaven's Gate. It looked as though someone had one day grabbed a chunk of land and pulled it off, and time and wind still hadn't smoothed away the rough edges.

"Now I think I get why people call this 'where Ancardia used to be'. It didn't exactly leave quietly, did it…?" Ein shook his head in wonder. "Man. The gods must really have been mad to do something like this. The fallen angel who was tried here… what did he _do?"_

Malice shrugged. "I don't know. I think I heard once that he was turned in to the gods for high treason, but I don't know what _exactly _he did to merit getting thrown out of Asgard so spectacularly. You could always try asking Celina. She's been around long enough that she might know. Or maybe…" She made a face and fell silent.

Ein nodded, sobered. "Yeah. Ledah probably _would've _known. He'd read every book in the Great Library by the time he was fifteen, after all…" He sighed. "We'd… probably better get going."

"Fine." Malice headed onto the thin trail that led dangerously close to the gap. "Follow me as closely and as carefully as you can. This is a pretty narrow road as it is, and if there's anything wrong with it, if we both stand on a weak section at once, it could give."

"Jeez." Ein made a face. "This is even worse than walking on the chains when we went to Riviera…"

"Just don't look down."

To keep his mind off the drop, Ein watched Malice closely and made sure to keep his thoughts on her. Only a short time ago, he'd hated her with all his heart, but he just couldn't feel that way anymore. She was changing—slowly and surely, even though she herself didn't seem to notice it. Maybe she was starting to doubt Hector a little bit, or she was starting to trust him more, but whatever the cause, she didn't get impatient with him as often, and even when she did, if she said something too hurtful, she would stop herself and even apologize. Just now, she'd refrained from mentioning Ledah because she'd thought it would be too painful for him (or maybe because she felt guilty?)—it was sweet, and something she would never have been capable of before.

She didn't feel as hostile anymore, and Ein bet that he would be able to rely on her just as much now as he had on Ledah and Rose and the girls. Because… now that he was with her, and they were able to understand each other just a little, Ein didn't feel as hollow as he had when his friends had died.

And however Malice considered the matter, Ein thought that was a good thing.

"Okay, you can look now. You made it."

Ein blinked, then sighed. "I'm glad that's over with. If I'd looked down, I probably would've ended up losing my lunch. I loved flying, but now that I can't anymore… I kind of hate heights…"

"An acrophobic Grim Angel…" Malice shook her head at him. "Somehow, I can't help but point out the fact that that's just plain sad."

"You're telling me. Now, let's go. Maybe we'll be able to get through the gate without any major problems if we hurry."

The two of them continued up in the path in silence, but Ein saw that Malice was smiling and felt something in his heart glow.

---

"It's just up ahead. A few more minutes, and we'll be back in Asgard," Malice said with a sigh.

_"Finally," _Ein groaned. "I thought this stupid road was never gonna end."

The two of them climbed the last of the slow incline and around a few boulders to see the glowing magic circle in the center of a ring of marble pillars. And the dark figure standing in front of it.

Before Ein had the chance to do more than turn to Malice in confusion, she had whipped out Skadi and was glaring up at the stranger warily, her wings flared and her very feathers standing on end.

"Who…?"

"Ein, that's a demon," she said, her voice a deep growl. "And he's one of the higher-ups in Hector's army. Be careful."

He nodded, then turned to the demon and drew Einherjar, holding it out in warning. "You—move away from the portal and let us pass, or we'll have no choice but to cut you down!"

The demon laughed at him.

As he moved closer, Ein saw that the demon was a few inches taller than Malice, with big muscles and a huge, sickle-shaped blade slung over his shoulder. He was smirking down at the two angels, and the look in his dark eyes was filled with cruel amusement.

"Cut me down?" the demon repeated. "Now that's funny!"

"We're telling you to move," Malice snapped. "You can do it the easy way and run back home to Hector, or the hard way, where we throw your carcass off the edge of the island. Your pick."

"Like I have any reason to be afraid of a couple of pathetic angels who couldn't even stand up for themselves, let alone the ones they care about." The demon shrugged. _"You're _the ones who should get out of here and run as far away as you can before _I _kill _you. _Maybe if you get far enough away, Hector won't be bothered to hunt you down."

"You shut up," Ein yelled at him. "We're getting through no matter what. We're going to stop him!"

"Oh, and Ructor—the master has a message for you. He said to tell you that no matter who you ally yourself with or what you think you're capable of, he's never going to fear you, because he knows you'll always know deep down what you really are—a failure, a fake Grim Angel so pathetic that your only worth was in being Hector's personal whore."

Ein opened his mouth to retort, but then realized what the demon had said and turned to look at Malice, who had gone bone-white and rigid, her eyes wide with shock. _"What?"_

The demon shook his head at her. "Come on—don't tell me you really never suspected it? You _must _have known there was a reason why you could never beat either of your fellows in a fair fight. You're strong, but you're no Grim Angel. And you've always known it, too."

"How _dare _you speak like that!" Malice yelled, but Ein could see fear behind the blank denial on her face. "Mocking a Grim Angel is death for a demon!"

"Hector told us _all _about it," the demon went on. "You wanted to become a Grim Angel to avenge your dear darling parents, didn't you? After the outbreak in Heaven's Gate almost eighteen years ago, all you ever wanted was to be strong. So you decided to enter the trials—but you failed them, _abysmally. _Hector decided he needed a slave, so he lied to you and gave you a fake Diviner. And you actually thought that you'd given up your _future! _You're so pathetic! I have nothing to fear from you!"

Malice shook her head, dropping Skadi and clamping her hands over her ears. "Shut up! _Shut up!"_

"You, boy—you must have known it too. Hector said that it's likely _your _Diviner wouldn't stand for the impurities in hers, and it would react in some way. Isn't that right?"

Horribly, Ein remembered the way that Einherjar had resonated in his hands whenever it had been turned against Skadi. Was it possible that the things this demon was saying were actually _true?_

"You were a good little slave, Ructor… but it's bye-bye now. Hector's moved on to new interests, you see… and you've messed up one too many times. I guess a fake could never compare to the _real _thing."

Beside Ein, Malice trembled, then crumpled to the ground, curling her wings desolately and protectively behind her. _"Shut up!" _she yelled, her voice hitting a hysterical pitch as she shook her head frantically. "I'm not listening to you!"

"And now, since you won't get out of the way like a good girl, it's time for you to die."

"Shut up!" Ein yelled, stepping firmly in front of Malice. "Just shut up already! That's enough! Don't you dare talk about her like that! Can't you see you're hurting her?! If you don't stop, I'll cut you to pieces myself!"

"Bold words from such a runt of an angel," the demon taunted. "Do you have any idea who you're talking to? My ancestors were proud warriors who fought bravely in the war against the gods. They would have won the war for Nidhogg and his children if it hadn't been for you and your filthy kind—and a pathetic group of humans led by that chained-up fallen angel who got lucky—and now that Hector is behind me, I have the chance to change all that, to win back our rightful home and the world!

"I will crush you, and gain back the honor of our clan!"

As the demon armed himself with his strange weapon, Ein lunged forward, swinging Einherjar in a wide arc. The demon dodged backwards; Ein skidded across the stone floor in his landing, then whirled around and slashed again.

This time, the demon blocked his strike, then lashed out with a kick that nearly hit Ein—and would've, if he hadn't jerked back just in time. With Ein distracted, the demon swung his blade around in a wide and vicious circle; Ein yelped and dropped to the ground, rolling out of range. As the demon readied himself for another swing, Ein recovered himself, tightened his grip on Einherjar, and ran forward with a hateful cry and a decisive downwards chop of his Diviner.

The demon tried to parry with his own blade, but it clattered to the ground in two halves: Ein's attack had cut it cleanly into two.

With a snarled curse, the demon flew at Ein with only his fists; Ein coolly drew Einherjar back and spitted the demon on it as he charged.

The demon gasped, then coughed blood, his eyes going wide with shock. "I can't… lose…?"

"Too bad for you," Ein said coldly, and wrenched Einherjar out of the demon's body.

The demon staggered backwards, then fell in a heap, his blood spattering the stone floors of Heaven's Gate. He was staring at Ein with something like horrified recognition. "Demons…bane…"

He gagged on blood, and fell back, his eyes wide and staring and dull. He was dead.

Ein glared distastefully at the demon, then shook Einherjar in the air to clean it of blood and headed back to Malice, who still sat hunched close to the ground.

"Malice… are you okay? He's gone. You don't have to worry anymore."

She looked up at him with a lost expression, her face tearstained and her wide, hopeless eyes almost, _almost _blue again.

_She looks like Seth. _Ein bit his lip, then reached out and wiped her tears away as he knelt before her. "Look… I… don't know if what that guy said was true or not. But… we can't worry about that yet. It doesn't matter. All we can do is what we have in front of us now… the only way is forward."

So saying, he took her hand in his and squeezed it.

Malice's fingers tightened around his. She closed her eyes, sighed, and nodded slowly to him, standing when he did and gathering up Skadi.

The two of them walked hand-in-hand to the portal and stepped through to their homeland.

---

The streets of Asgard were dark and silent as Ein and Malice walked towards the building of white marble at the holy city's center.

"It's so quiet… it's creepy. I don't think there's anybody here," Ein said in a hushed voice, looking around nervously.

"You're right… I don't sense anyone anywhere."

They stopped before the flight of stairs that led into the great hall that had once belonged to the gods and looked at each other.

"You don't think… demons were here, do you?" Ein ventured slowly. "The city's completely empty… if something happened to them all…"

Malice just shook her head mutely. They both knew that if that was true, their last hope for defeating Hector was gone.

"You two don't have to worry," said a voice from behind them. "Asgard was evacuated weeks ago in case the demons mounted enough force to get through the magic circle. Ashcroft and the others are leading them to a safe place even now."

Both of the angels turned to see that a lone figure swathed in deep red robes was at the top of the steps, looking down at the two of them with an unusually grave expression.

"Celina…"

Celina Mizer the Just, one of the many heroes of Ragnarok and the fairest, most approachable of the Seven Magi, had rich auburn hair and deep eyes the color of oxidized blood. Her face was open and honest, and her slanted brows and the firm lines of her cheekbones and the bridge of her nose were just a little too masculine to be pretty. However, she had soft, full lips and fair skin, and no one could deny that she lit up a room with her smile. She was fairly short-statured—even hovering on her toes, she was only the same height as Malice—and her hands were small, but she was both a respected mage and a powerful fighter who decimated her foes with fire spells and the nameless iron sword always sheathed at her side.

"Ein… Malice…" Celina shook her head sadly. "I'm fairly sure I know what you've come here for… and I'm sorry it had to come to this. But Hector must be stopped now… whatever the cost."

"Celina…" Ein stood where he was for a moment, then suddenly launched himself up the stairs to bury his face in the Magus' chest, sobbing and shaking.

"I know," she said softly, stroking his hair with a mournful look on her face. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for everything…"

:TBC:


	8. To Nowhere

The Tainted

See disclaimer in Part 1

"The two of you must be exhausted. Sit down, give your feet a rest. I'm sure you've been walking for what must seem like eons."

As Celina walked around the table to get a seat on the other side, Ein and Malice pulled up chairs and sank into them, both silent. As soon as she, in turn, was seated, they looked at each other, then at her, and Ein hesitantly began to speak.

"You know what's been happening in Riviera… right?"

Celina sighed. "Not entirely. Just that something's gone wrong, demons have been trying to get through the sealed circle daily, and from the looks on your faces, Hector has something to do with it."

Ein bit his lip and nodded. "He's… betrayed Asgard. He made Malice revive the Accursed and he's been using them to gather Sprite souls in order to resurrect Seth, the Sealed One, so that he can get past Ursula and steal the powers of the gods. He plans to become a god himself, and then remake the world as he pleases." He was silent for a moment, then went on. "Ledah and Rose and many of the friends I made in Riviera while I fought the demons are dead. Hector did revive Seth, but… she's chosen to side with us instead of him, and she's waiting for us in Riviera. Still, the three of us can't defeat him on our own…"

Celina swore, jerking up from her chair with a scowl and beginning to pace. "That selfish _bastard. _I should have known he was trying to pull one over on us when he proposed the Retribution. After all, it's not the first time he's betrayed people who depended on him to do the right thing. I'm gonna wring his damn neck for this! What does he think people are—just things to be manipulated for his gain?!"

"Celina…"

She turned to him, her eyes blazing with a deep hatred that almost scared him.

"When I was in Riviera, I spoke to Ursula, its guardian spirit. When I first arrived there, she put my powers and my memories under a seal so I would be able to understand the Sprites better, but she told me that the seal she laid isn't the only one on me. Malice and I came here mostly so that we could find out what it is… because as long as I'm unable to reach my full power, we might not be able to defeat Hector."

Celina sighed, ran her hands through her hair, and sat down.

"Yes, Ein, there's another seal on you. It's been a part of you since you were born, and I was the one who laid it… because I honestly hoped that this day was never going to come. Some part of me believed that it would be enough for you to build your own identity as a Grim Angel…"

"Then…" Ein looked at her pleadingly. "Celina… you've got to take it off! We've got to stop Hector or the entire world is going to suffer just so he can achieve his twisted dreams!"

Celina stared at him for a long moment; he lapsed back into silence, unable to keep berating her when she looked at him with that commanding aura all of the Magi possessed. "I'll do it, Ein, but I think you'll probably come to regret it after it's been done. And it's going to take a few days for it to completely wear off even after I get the spell ready, so you'll have to be patient." She stood again. "Meet me tomorrow at St. Kylier's Cathedral when you're ready."

She turned around and began to walk away.

"Wait…"

Both Celina and Ein turned; Malice had stood abruptly and was now standing with her wings hunched and her fists clenched, biting her lip and looking pensive.

"There's… something I want to know, too."

"Malice…" Looking up at her, Ein thought that she seemed unusually pained.

"On the way here… I was told that I was never a real Grim Angel at all, and that Hector has lied to me about even that. Is… that true?"

Celina gave her the same long, considering look she had Ein. "…Yes and no," she said at length. "Yes, Hector lied to you. Your Diviner, Skadi… is nothing but a cleverly crafted fake. And during your Grim Angel trials, you failed your first one very badly. You did fine on all the others, and as if to compensate, your sacrifice was a lot more severe than Ein and Ledah's were. But it was never made into a Diviner for you. The rest of us learned that after Hector went to Goriate to wait for you—one of the officials who had presided over the tests came to us and told us that the records of its creation were all forged."

Ein saw blank horror and deep pain in Malice's face, and was on his feet beside her in an instant, ready to—well, he didn't know, but ready to support her no matter what she did.

_"But—" _Celina said firmly, holding up a hand. "But, Malice, no spell or dye can fool these eyes. I saw the Grim Angels of the old days, the soldiers of Ragnarok. And your wings are as black as theirs were. You can't counterfeit that, not for long anyway. And the scars of your sacrifice haven't healed yet, have they?"

Malice blinked, then slowly shook her head. Ein shivered and tried to cut himself off from the grisly image of the cross-shaped mark along Malice's body, grimacing. The twisted marks where his wings had been were gruesome enough, but it was still nothing to what he had seen that day at the river's edge.

"For the two of you, and Ledah, and any other Grim Angels born without the assistance of the gods, they never will. Not as long as your Diviners still exist.

"You aren't a whole Grim Angel, Malice Ructor, but you _are _still a Grim Angel of sorts. And… while we're here working on Ein, I think that there may yet be something I can do for you… at least to give Skadi some of its rightful powers."

Malice stood still for a moment, absorbing this information, then very quickly turned and walked away, her boots clicking on the cold stone of the floor.

"…What's wrong with her?" Ein asked, bewildered, once he was sure she was out of hearing.

Celina turned to look at him. "My guess… is that Malice is currently suffering from a disorder known as Stockholm's Syndrome. Sometimes, when people have been deeply wronged, they sympathize with and believe the words of whoever hurt them. It can be because of brainwashing or because the person with Stockholm's needs to believe they deserved what happened to them in order to stay sane… either way, it's a very difficult thing to go through, and I think Malice is on the brink of fully realizing what's been done to her, and she's having trouble coping."

"She… really did believe in Hector," Ein said helplessly. "I think in a way she still does… even after everything we've seen." He shook his head and lowered his voice. "Part of the reason Seth sided with us is because… because Hector was abusing her. She won't talk, and she's terrified of men. I think… that maybe Hector was doing the same kind of thing to Malice."

Celina was silent for a moment. "That…" She sighed and shook her head. "I have to wonder… because while part of me is saying that there's no way even Hector could have sunk that low, the rest of me isn't surprised. I can't put it past him. Hector wasn't always this bad, or at least I want to believe, but… when we were all much younger—thousands of years ago, before the Magi became what they have been to Asgard for so long—Hector once betrayed a very dear friend of mine to suffer a fate infinitely worse than death. I'll tell you the story some other time. Because right now… you're probably the best at understanding what Malice is going through, so you need to go after her."

"Wha—_me?" _Ein yelped, flushing.

Celina swatted him on the shoulder, giving him a no-nonsense look. "Of course, you! Or don't you think the number of things you've gone through together mean you've gotten any closer? Stupidhead. If she doesn't trust you by now, why'd she come with you instead of going back to Hector? Go! Or else you won't be able to catch up at all!"

Well, when she put it that way…

Ein groaned, made a face, and began to run back down the hall. "Malice, wait up!"

---

He eventually found her in one of the small parks scattered throughout the residential districts of Asgard, sitting in a swing with her hands folded in her lap and a distant look on her face.

Before he could call out to her, she slowly began to swing back and forth, rocking her heels in the gravel where she sat. "I remember this place… from a long time ago. My mother used to take me here when I was a child, before her injuries got so bad that she couldn't leave the house."

"Malice…"

"When my mother died… everything in the world seemed to lose its color. It felt like everything was over for me, and after a while I couldn't even remember things like that… or the fact that I'd liked to visit you and Ledah in the library and stay around while he read to you… or the old bakery where I learned to make bread. I forgot what it was like to be happy after a while." She gave a short laugh that sounded more like a sob than anything else. "Me, happy? You would have been insane to have even suggested it. I learned the details—that it was demons that day in Heaven's Gate that made the city guard go out, that they were beginning to appear slowly in the floating islands. And I decided that since everything else was closed to me, that was how I would spend my life. I would fight them, and make them pay for stealing my childhood.

"But when I tried to become a Grim Angel, and Hector became my sponsor…"

"None of that was your fault," Ein said softly. "If I'd been in your place, I would've done exactly the same thing."

"But can you really say that?" Malice looked at him, and her eyes were dark with bitter regrets. "Can you really say that you would've been sucked into his plans so easily? I… still don't know what to think, or feel. Hector _lied _to me. He used me. He made my existence a living nightmare, and for what? There was no purpose. There was no gain. I never achieved what I set out to, and eventually Hector ended up becoming my reason for living instead of revenge.

"It's so hard to explain… even now. Everything I felt centered around him, _everything. _Everything I experienced was based on him. I revered him. Then I feared him. And I loved him, and I hated him with everything I had. He did things… to people who served him… that would shatter your mind. And even then I couldn't break my attachment to him. _Why? _Why am I so pathetic that even now I can't so much as sort out what I feel about him?"

"Don't feel bad," Ein repeated. "Malice… let's be honest, here." He sat down in the swing next to hers and held onto the chains as he looked at her. "Hector pulled one on _everybody in Asgard, _not just us. Celina says she's hated him for lifetimes, but she didn't figure the whole thing out until I told her. And, heck, _I _couldn't even think of a way to save the Sprites until Ursula erased my memory and dumped me in with them, let alone realize what Hector was up to, and the Magi _created _me just to fulfill the judgment of the gods! Probably the only person who was able to put two and two together, and then break away from Hector…"

"…Was Ledah," Malice finished for him.

"Yeah," Ein said softly, kicking at the gravel in front of him. "And… and even he couldn't do it until it was… was basically too late for him. So…" He shook his head to clear it. "I guess what I'm trying to say is… it could've been any of us in your position. You handled it the best you could. Hector did a lot of really bad things to you, and… and it's going to take you a while to get over it. If you even can get over it. But… but when things start to look like they're hopeless, or you start to believe what he told you… I'll be here. We're all we have now… so we've got to take care of each other."

Malice turned to look at him with something like wonder on her face. "Ein…"

"Yeah?"

"S-since when are you the kind of guy who says stuff like _that?" _she demanded, slowly starting to blush, twitching the tip of her right wing. "Take care of each other…? I mean…!"

Ein stared at the ground, suddenly embarrassed, feeling his face start to heat up. "Yeah, I… I guess that… did sound kind of lame…"

"No, that's not—" Malice sighed, then stood up, crossing her arms. "A-anyway! We should… probably find somewhere to sleep, since Celina's not going to fix you until tomorrow."

"Okay." Ein stood up too, brushing off his pants. "I'll, uh… start looking over in the east wing. There's got to be someplace that isn't all boarded up."

As he left, Malice shook her head, smiling wryly.

"It… wasn't _lame," _she said too softly for anyone but her to hear. "It was… kind of sweet…"

---

St. Kylier's Cathedral was a vast and relatively unused church that lay behind the gods' abandoned hall. It was large and rather imposing, with its walls mostly covered with panels upon panels of stained glass murals depicting scenes of various angelic heroes over the years as well as images of its namesake. Ein tried to dredge up what he knew about her as he walked, dredging up the vague memories in which Ledah had explained the saints to him and sifting through that ancient information for the right description.

It took him a while, but finally Ein remembered: St. Kylier had been a human girl who had sacrificed herself bravely in some very ancient, pre-Ragnarok war in Midgard. Supposedly it was not just her sacrifice but the fearless way she'd led her life that had led her to be canonized in Asgard after her death, but Ein wasn't certain about that. However, he _did _remember that she had been about the same age he was now when she'd lost her life. Ein shivered a little. That didn't bear thinking about.

You just weren't supposed to die young…

Blocking images of Cierra, Fia, Serene, Rose, and Ledah from his mind, Ein trotted a few steps forward to catch up with Malice, who was already almost to the cathedral door.

As the two of them opened the doors, the first thing they saw was Celina, poised before the tall altar in her deep scarlet robes.

"You're here… I'm glad."

The two angels walked up the carpeted aisle towards her. Ein's heart was pounding so hard that he was sure both Celina and Malice could hear it, and wished desperately that he could pull himself together.

"Since we're in a cathedral, I think this would be the best time to start restoring Malice's rightful powers to her," Celina began. "We'd better do it now so that we don't forget once we move on to you, Ein. After all, breaking your seal is going to take time, and… like I said, it won't be easy."

"That's fine." Biting back a sigh, Ein sat down in a nearby pew and clenched his fists on his pants as Malice took a few more steps to stand in front of Celina.

"Now… Malice Ructor, angel and servant of the gods… Thou hast come in the name of thy office, and thy desire to become what thou hast striven for these many years. Thou spake before of thy resolve, thy wish to save this world from the demons that plague it and thy former master, the many times forsworn and as yet oath-breaking Hector. Speak now thy pledge, and let the power that has been denied thee gather in thine blade."

"Right now…" Malice said slowly. "Right now, there are people in this world who are suffering because of my actions, and others who died because of me. I may not be able to right those wrongs or even make up for them, but I want to try. As long as I have breath in this body… as long as I am able to fight… then I vow that I shall fight as a Grim Angel in the name of the gods!"

Celina was silent for a moment, and then she spoke. "Thy pledge has been heard. Kneel."

Malice sank to one knee, bowing her head, her expression enviably smooth and calm. Ein thought that if it had been him standing in her place, he probably wouldn't be able to breathe right now. His palms were getting sweaty just looking at her.

"In these past days, thou hast suffered like no living thing should suffer. Thy very life hast been thy sacrifice, ever since the betrayer cast his hateful eye upon thee. Therefore… thou hast no need of any further loss. Thy future was always thine; thy stability instead was to be thine offering. Malice Ructor… take back thy days, and thy pride." Celina laid her hand upon Malice's forehead, and for a moment her palm glowed whiter than any light Ein had ever seen before. "Arise now, Grim Angel!"

Slowly, Malice stood; as Ein watched, her silvery-blue axe appeared in the air between her and the red-robed Magus, casting off a pulsating glow.

"This blade no more shall be the tool of the forsaken," Celina said in a firm voice. "Let it become instead a symbol of redemption." As she spoke, bright spheres of light appeared in the air, floating towards Skadi and vanishing as soon as they touched it, causing its glow to become brighter and brighter. "And may this be one step towards true completion for thee!"

A clear, bell-like tone rang through the pure, crisp cold autumn air, causing the hair on the back of Ein's neck to stand on end. It was the most beautiful thing he'd ever heard…

"The rightful strength of a Grim Angel… is thine."

Slowly, the glow around Skadi dissipated, and the axe rotated in the air until it was vertical. In dreamlike movements, Malice reached out and took it into her hands with a mildly surprised expression on her face, and the trance that settled over all of them was broken.

"So this is… a real Diviner now…?" Malice asked at length.

Celina pulled a face. "Actually? I have no idea _what _to call Skadi now. It's made of orihalcon alright, and it contains all the power of the things you've given up for this, but true Diviners are made by forming an orihalcon shell around the essence of your physical sacrifice in a binding ceremony. Yours would've taken quite a while, since your sacrifice was really extensive. Ein's took hours, and that was just to fix the essence of his wings to Einherjar. Ledah's… well, his didn't take long at all, since we didn't need to extract an essence. Emotional capability and the spiritual 'heart' are already an essence." Leaning forward on her toes, Celina stretched, interlacing her fingers. "Nnn… man. I don't really like being as formal as spells like that one need. Too much 'thee' and 'thy' for me. It's even worse than the Sacred Tongue… 'cause at least _there _you don't need to worry about pronouns unless you're speaking in the familiar part of the language. I always used to get so confused as to whether I was supposed to use 'thee' or 'thou' and 'thy' or 'thine'. What a pain."

Ein smiled and shook his head. Same old Celina…

She shrugged and smiled wryly at him. "Well… now that all of that's over, and Malice has the power she should've had from the beginning, the two of you need to come with me. Ein… you'll probably want Malice with you for this, since I suppose that in a way it involves her, too."

Ein got up, and with Malice at his side, trailed Celina to the door behind the altar that led to the inner sanctum of the church. The Magus laid her hand on the door itself and spoke a phrase from the Sacred Tongue, and the heavy wood creaked and gave way on its own.

The room behind the wall was bare and empty except for something tall and thin covered by a sheath of canvas. Celina walked over to it and pulled its cover away to reveal that it was an old-fashioned mirror, rimmed in gold, silvery and timeless.

"Ein… are you absolutely sure you want to go through with this?" Celina asked him. "You are not going to like this, I'll tell you that right now."

"It's the only way," he replied stubbornly, his heart in his throat. "Just… just break the seal already."

"The Magi… we're only placeholders for the gods, not gods ourselves," Celina said at length. "There are a lot of things we can't do. For instance… we can't create souls. Only the gods themselves could have done so. And because of that… in order to create a Grim Angel, I… _we…_

"Look into the mirror, Ein."

Frowning at her, Ein stepped forward to a point where he could stand and look into the silver-frosted glass. He stared for a moment, then blinked, then visibly blanched and jolted back with a horrified cry.

"N-no! That's… that's not possible…!"

:TBC:


	9. Inheritance

The Tainted

See disclaimer in Part 1

Ein stared in horror at the image on the other side of the glass.

It looked a little like him, it was true—but it most definitely was _not _him at all. The face, for one thing, was older, a bit worldlier, with stronger, more developed features and pure gray eyes rather than the kind that shifted colors depending on the light. The hair was far longer, and a bit darker—ash brown rather than blue-brown—and it fell in a thick curtain to the young man's waist. His clothes resembled Ein's to a point—the same long, sleeveless jacket, the same ragged blue makeshift cloak… yet along with it he wore a long-sleeved white shirt and long white pants, as well as a white Grim Angel's cape. And he had wings: Pure black, broad wings. This person… this almost-Ein… was very definitely a Grim Angel.

"I told you, Ein… the Magi cannot create souls. People spoke as though we made you with our own hands… but that isn't true.

"If I may explain… souls are fragile things that can be easily warped or destroyed, but they are the single most enduring aspect of mortal nature. When people die, their souls return to the worlds of the dead—Valhalla, the holy paradise; Niflheim, the land of the sleepers; Hel, the realm of the damned. Over time, these souls lose their former identities and are purified, then born into new bodies. Ever since the world began, or so we Magi understand it, the number of souls has never really changed that much other than a few instances of mass destruction. The gods oversaw that. Reincarnation is normally a very slow process—if a soul came back before its due time, it would retain powers and memories from its previous life.

"We… couldn't create a Grim Angel ourselves. So we…" Celina fell silent and shook her head. "It started… with something that happened during Ragnarok. This man… the one you see in the mirror… in life, his name was Ecthel Demonsbane, and he was a soldier who became a Grim Angel and served under my command in the great war."

"So, you're saying… that you took the powers of a casualty in Ragnarok and passed them on to Ein?" Malice asked slowly.

"In a manner of speaking, I suppose. We'd boxed ourselves in so that we didn't have much choice. But we put the seal on Ein's soul, even though it would suppress his powers, to act as a barrier between his new life and any lingering memories that belonged to Ecthel. The two of them already bore a physical resemblance, and we named Ein after him, but… I… still wanted him to be himself, rather than the echo of someone who died a thousand years ago."

Ein turned shellshocked eyes on the Magus, who stood off to the side, looking unusually sober, almost resigned. "Was that… selfish of me? I don't know. At any rate… now that you know, the seal will erode completely within a few days. Coming here, and using the holy Mirror of Truth, which always shows your true face, was just the fastest way to show you.

"Do you… hate me for this?"

Ein shivered, forcing himself to keep from looking into the mirror again. "I… don't know. I don't know what to think…" He shook his head. "I… just… why him? Why was this one person so special that you used _his _soul instead of someone else's…? Who am I… really?"

"You are _you, _Ein," Malice said suddenly. "You're you because you grew up and experienced things that shaped the way you act and think. You didn't just randomly inherit your likes and dislikes from the last person your soul was. And if you think that finding out something unwelcome about yourself suddenly changes everything you've ever been, well… that's a load of bullshit. And you should damn well know better."

"As to your other question… I'm sure you've heard, Ein, about the party of Grim Angels who held the demon army out of Asgard while Hector's forces at Goriate were under siege." Celina's voice was nearly flat. "Ecthel Demonsbane was… their leader. And he was the only one still alive when we got there.

"Perhaps… it would be better if I didn't tell you this story myself, but showed you…"

---

"Lady Celina!"

She turned, slight surprise on her face. "What's the matter? I thought you and the others would be long gone by now. You all got your orders last night."

Ecthel pulled up short, shaking his head. "Tabris and Anathea both wanted to say goodbye to their families first. I've been ready to go since then, but I figured I'd better wait for them instead of going off to Heaven's Gate ahead. Everybody else is already in place."

"Is that so?" Celina crossed her arms, looking at her Grim Angel with a wry smile. "Then, is there something you still need here?"

Ecthel hesitated, tucking stray strands of hair behind his ear, then sighed. "It's just… the way that you've been acting, and the way the Magi aren't telling us much… this situation is getting worse, isn't it?"

Celina was silent for a while. "…There's no point in hiding it from you, not when you're going to be out there fighting the war with us soon. Yeah. It's pretty bad. Samael's forces have been losing major ground in Midgard since Thor used up the last of his power. The human armies are doing what they can, but we're still getting pushed back. We've been trying like hell to nail down Isher's unit before they can get back to Nidhogg, but they keep throwing legion upon legion of Sprite conscripts at us, so it doesn't look like we'll make it."

Ecthel winced. "…Ouch…"

"It gets worse," Celina told him, shaking her head. "Hector's still holding Goriate, but you know how demons have gotten through into Heaven's Gate? Well, it turns out that Marietta was supposed to be holding the seal that day, and you know…? It's starting to look like she let them through purposely."

Ecthel stared. "No way… Marietta's sided with the demons?!"

"We don't know for certain, but that's what it looks like," Celina said with a nod. "There is _some _good news, though. The Fantasinian-Bronquian allied army met up with Agrias and Velsper's troops, and they managed to defeat Lindwurm and Death's platoon at Orlando. Even though most of the nations in Midgard have been annihilated, the Kingdom and the Empire are still hanging in there. …Well, actually, it's more like they're determined to fight tooth and nail until the bitter end. I'm not all that surprised. An… old friend is one of their commanders, and if I ever knew him at all, I'm sure he still pretends ignorance of when to quit. And… if what we hear is true, there's been a Sprite rebellion in the demon army."

"Are you serious?" Ecthel's eyebrows shot up as he put his hands on his hips. "Well, good for them! Which Sprites were they?"

"The Arcs. Most of them got slaughtered, of course, but their leaders have gotten away. And this has put a big hole in the demons' morale." Celina laid a hand on his shoulder. "These are good things, and they could possibly start to swing Ragnarok in our favor, but there aren't enough Grim Angels yet. That's why it's important for you to get out there and hold the Gate as soon as possible. If demons manage to get through to Asgard when we're in this condition, we're fucked. Your Diviner holds the last of Odin's power, and even though you're only eighteen, you're the best captain we've got to spare. All of Asgard is depending on you…"

Ecthel sighed. "No pressure."

Celina grimaced. "I'm sorry to nag you so much, but… this has already gone past a life-and-death situation. Just take care out there. I'm looking forward to giving you all kinds of shiny medals and telling your and Anathea's great-great-grandkids about all your heroic exploits. So don't die out there, okay?"

"I'll do my best," Ecthel said with a smile. "I have to go visit Mom's grave, and then I'll go get Tabris and Anathea so we can head out. Wish us luck, okay?"

He nodded to her, then turned and ran back down the hall.

Celina watched after him, an unusually somber expression on her face. Sometimes, she wondered what in the world the gods could be thinking, entrusting the fate of Asgard and all of humankind to children. Ecthel was young, and in love, and even though he had fought many battles, he'd never seen just how bad a siege situation could get. He was a good child, and she didn't doubt that he would lay down his life for her without a second thought, but… Celina had seen too many good children die already.

She hoped that, at least for Ecthel, Ragnarok wouldn't end in despair.

---

One month later 

"Ecthel, wake up… it's your turn to take the watch."

The brunet groaned and sat up, rubbing his eyes. It was Tabris who had awakened him, as usual.

Tabris and Ecthel had been friends for most of their lives, despite their different backgrounds—Tabris was the heir to the noble House of Ructor, while Ecthel was the child of a lower-class woman. Whereas Ecthel was generally quieter and more serious, Tabris was open, friendly, and even flighty; he had good-naturedly evaded his parents' plans to civilize him and had become a Bard instead of a stern and condescending representative of noble authority. One year older than Ecthel, Tabris was slightly taller, and possessed warm hazel eyes and long blonde hair that he usually pulled back into a braid. His beloved lute was strapped across his back, as was his fearsome Diviner: A violet halberd blessed by Thor, named after the god's great hammer, Mjolnir. A powerful and steadfast warrior, Tabris had been at Ecthel's side all through Ragnarok, and even as their comrades had fallen, he'd managed to save battle after battle with his powerful skill Oratorio.

"What time is it?" Ecthel half-groaned, stretching and contemplating trying to slap himself into wakefulness.

Tabris shrugged. "Still a few hours before dawn. I don't know. It's pretty quiet out there right now, but keep your guard up."

"What I wouldn't give for just one night of real, uninterrupted sleep," Ecthel said with a sigh. "Still… I guess we'll just have to hold out until reinforcements get here. With all these demons, it's like there's no end in sight."

"You'd feel a lot better if you would stop trying to take Anathea's share of the watch as well as your own," Tabris lectured, poking Ecthel insistently in the shoulder. "Believe me, she does _not _thank you for it. She's a pretty patient girl, but she's been getting mad at you about this lately."

"…………" Ecthel pushed his hair back, standing up to look over at where their third companion lay asleep. "…Am I supposed to be able to help wanting to protect her…?"

"I'm sure she appreciates your effort, but all the same, neither of us likes seeing you sacrifice your own health for our sake. How hard has it gotta be for her? I'm just your friend. She _loves _you. Give her a break, man… I'm sure that there are times that she wants to protect you just as badly."

Ecthel just looked silently down at Anathea. Whereas Tabris was a year older than him, Anathea was a year his junior, a delicate and well-mannered girl of seventeen with porcelain skin, shoulder-length golden hair, and ruby-colored eyes. The second daughter in a family of six, Anathea belonged to the middle-ranked noble house of Rozwelli, and despite her youth, she was a strong priestess who had become a Grim Angel shortly after the gods had made their decision to break the ancient taboo. Blessed by Freya, she carried the Diviner staff Draupnir, and was a match for Ecthel and Tabris in power. And she was so beautiful, so sweet, so pure, that it was enough to break Ecthel's heart.

Ecthel had seen so many people die since he'd taken this post… it would just kill him if anything like that ever happened to Anathea.

Tabris sighed. "Well… I've never really felt the way you and Anathea do about anyone, so I might not have the right to say anything… but I just hope you listen to me for once. I'm a Bard, but… I don't just spend all my time blowing hot air." And so saying, he sat down, propping himself against a crate of supplies, stretched out his legs, and closed his eyes. "Poke me or something if you see trouble."

"…Right…" Ecthel pulled a face at his friend, then clambered up to their lookout spot—the overhang directly outside the cave where their dwindling resistance had holed itself up, no pun intended. Setting his blue Diviner, Excelion, on the ground beside him, he lay where he could peek over the lip of the cliff and tried to flatten his wings as much as possible.

Maybe Tabris was right, and it wasn't just their long stay here with demon platoons slipping past Goriate daily that had Anathea in a bad mood. She apologized whenever her nerves became so frayed that she snapped at him, but… she seemed to be losing her temper more and more often lately.

Maybe he really should try not to protect her as much as he did. He knew that if he were in her position, he would probably feel stifled. But… all the same, every time he looked at her, he just got the uncontrollable urge to throw himself between her and the world, which both of them knew well had become more treacherous than ever before. Sometimes… even admonishing himself not to do anything to shelter Anathea, Ecthel just couldn't help himself.

Ecthel's reverie was broken by the steady crunch of footsteps on stone. Alarmed, he jolted up, squinting into the darkness. What he was able to make out down the road was most definitely not a welcome sight.

_"Shit!" _He scooted backwards into the cave, nudging Tabris with the tip of his boot. "Wake up, Tabris! We've got demons!"

The Bard was up in an instant, Mjolnir in his hands. "How many?"

Ecthel shook his head. "Twenty, twenty-five at the most. It's hard to see too far out there like this. I saw some axemen, some swordsmen, and what looks like lancers in the back. It's just a squad, so I think we can take them without too much trouble. I'll go out ahead and draw their attention—you wake Anathea so the two of you can back me up."

"Right." Tabris hesitated, then clasped Ecthel's shoulder. "…If you manage to die before we get there, I'm gonna kick your ass."

Ecthel smiled. "You be careful, too."

With that, he rushed out of the cave and leaped off the cliff, spreading his wings wide to soften his descent, brandishing Excelion at the demons. "You're getting through here over my dead body!"

"All troops forward!" shouted the demons' captain, and their front rank ran forward in a rush.

"Hah!" Ecthel lashed out with his Diviner, chopping one demon in the side, then spun around to transfix another. The other three closed in, but Ecthel jumped just in time, turning a graceful flip over their heads to land behind them.

Gripping Excelion tightly, Ecthel pulled it back for a moment. "Odin, greatest of all gods… Lend thy power to smite mine enemy! _Hah!" _He swung, sending a crescent of blue light to connect with his opponents, momentarily stunning them and sending them collapsing back onto the stone of Heaven's Gate.

"Idiot! Never turn your back on your enemy!"

Hearing the demon's yell, Ecthel swung around just in time to parry the downward swing of his axe on Excelion's edge. Even so, the force of the strike made him stumble, collapsing to one knee and flaring his wings awkwardly to keep from falling over completely.

"I got your back, Ecthel!"

Ecthel jolted around, surprised, to see the three demons behind him suddenly cry out and spray their lifeblood over the stone way. "Tabris!"

"You are so _hopeless _without me," the Bard teased. "Just worry about the demons, why don't you? Between us, we've got it covered."

Ecthel shook his head at his friend, but lurched up and took advantage of the nearest demon's surprise to run him through. "You don't need to lecture me!"

Another demon, running at Tabris, swung his lance up towards the angel. "It's useless trying to stop us! You're all dead men!"

Tabris caught the strike easily on Mjolnir's haft, pushing the lance up and away with a heave of his shoulders. "You completely suck!" Chopping at the demon to herd him back towards his fellows, Tabris then raised his Diviner towards the heavens. "O Holy One, honor us with the ballad of heaven!" Power flared along Mjolnir's length, casting a violet glow over the battlefield. Wild-eyed, Tabris swung the halberd down. **"Oratorio!"**

His strike connected solidly with the ground before him. There was a brief pause in which the demons looked at each other, confused—which ended when a wave of pure energy erupted from beneath the foremost cluster of demons' feet. As they howled their pain to the rising dawn, Tabris pulled Mjolnir from the earth and flew forward to cut down his foes with unearthly speed and ferocity.

Seeing another small group of demons attempting to cut around the Grim Angels, Ecthel ran towards them. "Oh, no you don't!"

The demons pulled out their weapons to attack; Ecthel skidded to a halt, then lunged backwards, raising Excelion to the heavens. "This is the will of the gods—**Disaresta!"**

Power surged through his body. Ecthel half-closed his eyes and surrendered to it, letting his battle instincts take over. Touching down, he rushed the demons, slashing through them with wide arcs of his blade that were nearly too fast for the untrained eye to see.

"That should be most of them," Tabris called. "We've got 'em on the run, Ecthel!"

There was a group of about ten or so demons left, further down towards a bend in the path across the Gate. Pushing his hair out of his face, Ecthel leveled Excelion before him in preparation to run forward and finish them off.

"Good work, you two—I'll take care of the rest!"

Ecthel almost dropped his Diviner in surprise; he'd nearly forgotten that Anathea had been fighting behind them. Relaxing in surety that the battle was won, Ecthel smiled as she ran past: A slight, black-winged figure in ebony robes, her silver hairpin flashing in the light of the rising sun.

"Steady up, men!" the demons' leader called. "This one's just a girl! We can take her, easy!"

Ecthel and Tabris exchanged glances and shook their heads tragically. Demons or no, you just had to feel sorry for people who underestimated Anathea because of her gender.

As the demons charged, Anathea raised her golden Diviner staff into the air, closing her eyes. "May the gods grant us victory this day… Bring light to the darkness of chaos!"

The scant cloud cover above the battlefield parted, allowing blindingly bright light to spill through. The demons skidded to a halt, raising arms or weapons to cover their eyes.

Ecthel squinted to see Anathea's Draupnir glowing brightly with holy light, then flashing as she swung it towards the demons. "O miracle, appear before us! **Crusade!"**

Before the demons had the chance to react, Anathea slammed their ranks with a devastating strike, then swung her Diviner around to deal them with another, then another. Compared to Ecthel and Tabris' attacks, Anathea's were slightly slower, but the demons were all so shellshocked by the light and her sheer power that it didn't make any difference.

In one sweet starburst of holy light, it was over—a pile of scorched corpses was all that remained of the demons' attack. Anathea turned in a twirl of robes and lifted Draupnir up, a smile of triumph on her fair face. "Let light shine down from above!"

"You fried 'em, Anathea—" Tabris began, but before he could finish his sentence, a sudden movement behind the young Grim Angel silenced all of them.

The last of the demons plunged his blade through her body with a vengeful yell.

Blood spattered the stones. Anathea's face registered blank surprise, nothing more. As the demon jerked his weapon loose, she gave a weak cough, sending blood trickling over her lips. The three angels stood still, horrorstruck, transfixed, until her knees buckled and she started to fall.

Ecthel was there in instants to catch her, gathering her into his arms and crying her name as he felt her warm blood soaking his shirtfront.

"You son of a _bitch!" _In the next second, a livid Tabris had parted the demon from his head, which rolled along the ground as his body flopped bonelessly after it.

Ecthel was beyond caring. Terror choking him, he shook his unresponsive love, watching the bloodstains on their clothes grow steadily. "Anathea! Anathea, answer me! _Anathea!"_

---

"…Well?"

Tabris shook his head, kneeling at the mouth of the cave and looking down at Ecthel. "This is bad. The rest of the demons are heading here now. There's got to be at least a hundred of them. If we don't think of something fast, we're sunk."

"And Anathea is fading fast…" Ecthel looked down at the angel in his arms with a heartbroken expression on his face. "She's not going to make it unless we get her to some kind of healer. These bandages are only going to last so long, and no matter how much pressure I put on her wounds, she just keeps on losing blood. I don't know the first thing about real medicine, let alone how to really stitch up an injury like this. Just two of us can't hold off a hundred demons… and I don't want to leave her…

"But even so… we can't just abandon this post. If we do, Asgard…" Ecthel shook his head numbly. "Everyone will die…"

"…Ecthel…"

The dark-haired Grim Angel bit his lip, then stood, cradling his beloved in his arms. "…Go, Tabris. Take her back home. You should be able to come back with help in time to stop the demons. You're the faster flyer out of the both of us. You've got to go."

Tabris glared down at his friend, his lips tightening into a fierce line. "Like fuck I'm just going to leave you here to die! What the hell kind of crap are you trying to pull, anyway?! If you let yourself die like this, Anathea's never going to forgive you!"

"I'd rather she be alive and hate me forever than let her just _die _here," Ecthel cried, desperate. "Please, Tabris! I swear to you that I will do _everything _in my power to slow the demons down. Just go!"

"…………" Tabris whirled around with a bitter look on his face. "You…"

There was a long silence.

Tabris shifted his weight and crossed his arms, starting to frown. "…Hold on a second. The messenger that arrived from Asgard last week—what was it she said? Celina should be sending us a relief force around now. If _neither _of us goes back—if we take turns fighting so we can watch Anathea—we won't be fighting to win or fighting to die. I'm sure they'll get here to help us soon, and then we can go back with her once the battle's over. Besides, our chances are a lot better together than they are with us separated."

"…Are you sure…?"

"Definitely. Celina wouldn't lie to us," Tabris said decisively. "They're coming. We can make our stand here, the two of us, and protect Anathea _and _Asgard. We've made enough sacrifices, and we can't afford to lose the Blessed Maiden who Freya meant to lead the home forces in Ragnarok."

"…I suppose you're right." Sighing, Ecthel leaned in and kissed Anathea's forehead. "As long as she'll be safe, I don't care what we do."

"You'd better get her settled, then." Tabris turned towards the mouth of the cave, hoisting himself up with his Diviner. "I'll stay outside to make sure these damn demons don't get too close without you knowing."

Ecthel nodded, then retreated back towards the depths of their little grotto, where their bedding and personal belongings were arranged around a small makeshift altar to the gods. He laid Anathea down along her futon, then knelt and lit a stick of incense.

"Please… just keep her safe…"

And with that simple prayer, he rose, then headed out to join Tabris.

"Here they come. Let's just hope that Celina gets here quickly," the Bard said with a shake of his head, grimacing at his friend.

"Yeah…"

The two of them stood overlooking the pass, watching distant demons coming into sight, until a scraping sound behind them drew their attention.

"Anathea?! What are you doing up? You have to lay down and rest. Your wounds…" Ecthel hurried over to her where she stood leaning heavily on her Diviner, breathing heavily, blood dripping down her sides to stain the stone beneath her.

"Please…" She looked up at him, her gaze unfocused yet still desperate, red flecking her bone-white lips. "Ecthel… please… I want to help you…"

"Hush!" Looking frantically back at Tabris for support, Ecthel put his hands on her shoulders. "Anathea, _listen to me._ You don't have the strength left. You've got to—"

"You can't do it… without me…" She coughed. "As long as I can… please… I want to fight… please… let me fight…!"

"Anathea…!"

"Cut it out, you two." There was steel in Tabris' voice. "We haven't got time. They're _here, _goddamnit. They're here and unless you guys knock it off and get down to business, we're all going to get killed!"

"I won't… let you stop me… from fighting beside the ones I love…"

Looking down at Anathea, Ecthel realized that despite how much this might cost them in the future, he just couldn't force her back inside. "Anathea… I…" He sighed. "Be careful."

"Let's go," Tabris called, and the three Grim Angels descended upon the demon horde below, beginning their final stand.

---

When Malice blinked, she was standing in the cathedral again, alongside Celina and Ein.

"…You don't want to see what happened after that," the Magus said softly, shaking her head.

"They died, didn't they?" Malice asked slowly. "All three of them…"

"…………" Celina closed her eyes and bowed her head. "…I got there just minutes too late to save Ecthel. Tabris and Anathea had both fallen by then… and Ecthel… his Diviner was broken. He was fighting with a demon's sword instead, bleeding out of dozens of wounds, fighting mechanically even though he was hurt so badly. His enemies maimed him—they tore off one of his wings, crushed the other into so much worthless meat, shattered his bones and rent his flesh. My troops chased off the demons. I went to him instead… I knew it was too late, but I still felt like there had to be something I could do…"

Beside Malice, Ein was visibly trembling, ashen-faced. She reached out and laid a hand on his shoulder to steady him.

"He didn't even _blame _me. He told me it had been an honor to serve me… and then…

"I didn't think about it for a second. I just did it. Before his soul, battered as it was, vanished into nothingness, I extracted it from the corpse and bound it to a crucible. It healed, and slept, and it was preserved for a thousand years—until you were born, Ein."

Celina looked up at the two Grim Angels, her bloodred gaze piercing. "It was absolutely a selfish thing to keep his soul in slumber rather than let it pass once it had recovered. I couldn't bring myself to let him, or the issue, go. My failure to save people who believed in me has always been my stigma. At least this time—with you—I have a chance to do right by everyone…

"I'm sorry this has caused you so much pain. No amount of words could express or make you believe just how much I hate having to see you suffer. If there had been any way to do this without forcing you to come to terms with how you were born, I would've done it. And… there's nothing more I can do than say how sorry I am."

Malice watched as Ein drew and released a deep breath. "It's… okay. I know you meant well. It's… hard to take it all in, but… in time… in time I think I'll be able to understand everything. So… just give me a little time, that's all…"

And without saying anything more, he turned and walked out of the cathedral.

Celina sighed. "I've… really messed this up…" She turned to Malice with a grimace. "Please… look after him. And… tell him that tomorrow, I'll be waiting here for both of you again. There's one more thing I have to do before we leave Asgard."

"So you're coming with us then?" Malice asked, crossing her arms.

"How could I _not? _Even if I didn't hate Hector—even if we didn't have a score to settle that reaches back over the millennia—I'm still the reason Ein is in the state he's in right now. And a thousand years ago, I made the gods an oath that I would look after Asgard and the people of the world until they returned. It's time for me to make good on that promise."

Malice nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow, then. I'm going after him."

Celina watched her leave. Only after Malice was out of the room did she let herself smile, thinking that maybe some good _could _come out of this situation after all.

---

"Ein?"

He was standing right outside, which Malice considered to be a good thing. This way she didn't have to go chasing all over the city to find him—that would be nothing but a pain.

As he turned towards her, she frowned: Ein was still wide-eyed and pale, and now there were thin tearstains along his cheeks.

"What…"

"It's so hard to take it all in," Ein said numbly, shaking his head. "It's like… all of a sudden, there are so many strange memories flooding my head. And they're all so _real, _so _vivid. _I don't know who I am anymore… or even _what _I am. There's this power inside of me that I've never felt before, and it's so strong that it's like it's going to destroy my identity if it stays there…"

"Like I told you before—you're you. No matter what new things you know about yourself, you're still going to be you. You've experienced the return of your memories once before. It should be the same thing," Malice pointed out.

Ein just looked at her. "That was different. Then I didn't even pretend to know what I was. This… changes everything I've ever thought about myself. Everything he… Ecthel was, it's still got so much power to it that it's like it's going to erase me."

Malice drew closer to him as he continued. "He was like… this amazing, this… this incredibly self-sacrificing person. That whole last battle, he wasn't thinking of anything but protecting his friends, then avenging them, then holding out long enough to save Asgard. And that's who I am, who I'm supposed to be. How the damn hell am I supposed to live up to that…?

"And… Anathea." Ein shivered. "Oh, gods. He loved her _so much, _it just breaks my heart. What he was fighting for… he wanted to build his life with her after Ragnarok. He had such high hopes for the future, and…"

Malice _knew _that wasn't all that was bothering him: the girl Anathea had been a Rozwelli, and more than that, she'd looked so much like Ledah that it was a bit disturbing. And Ecthel's friend Tabris had obviously been a Ructor—she herself had noticed that resemblance right away. It was odd enough for her, but to Ein, these weren't just Grim Angels out of a story and a dream but flesh-and-blood people out of ancient memories no less real than his own. It was an interesting coincidence, to say the least.

And it was Malice's experience that there was usually nothing coincidental about things like that.

Just how much of what had happened to them was because of the Magi pulling the strings, or some other kind of fate…? Malice decided it would be better not to think about things like that.

"Hey," she said, frowning at Ein. "You stop this. It won't do you any good to wallow. Once this is over, we can get the Magi to do something, make some kind of inhibitor so these memories won't completely overwhelm you, but right now we don't have the luxury of doing so. I remind you again that just because you've got the powers from another life, it doesn't change the person you've always been. All we can do now is keep moving forward, right?"

Ein sighed. "Y… yeah. You're right. I'm sorry."

Malice shook her head at him. "Anyway… Celina says we should come back here to St. Kylier's to pick her up tomorrow, that she's got something else to do before she can go. So once she's done, our intrepid three-person army, four including Seth, is going to go charging down to pick a fight with Hector. That sound okay to you?"

Ein bit his lip and nodded. "Okay. Let's go…"

As the two of them walked back towards the house where they'd stayed the previous night, Ein reached out and clutched Malice's hand tightly.

She looked at him and considered his lost expression for a moment, but didn't pull away.

:TBC:


	10. Bitterness

The Tainted

See disclaimer in Part 1

**Note:** This chapter contains **YGGDRA UNION SPOILERS ACK ONO! **If you don't want to be spoiled, beat the game before you read this, 'k?

Ein headed back towards St. Kylier's Cathedral the next morning with leaden steps, heavy eyes, and a heart filled with trepidation. He hadn't had an easy night—even once he'd been able to sleep, he'd been plagued by dreams from his other self's life. He felt sick—like there was something heavy looming over him, something that kept him cold despite the sun's warmth and the gentle breeze that tossed his hair and clothes.

Malice watched him with something that was like worry on her face, but she didn't say anything. She knew just how hard it was to wake one day with your entire world turned upside down…

At about the same time, the two of them caught sight of Celina standing on the cathedral steps.

"What are you wearing…?"

Celina smiled at them. "This used to be the old uniform of our office, before we were set to govern before the gods. I'm probably the only one out of all of us who's kept mine."

Rather than the billowing robes that usually engulfed the Magi's bodies, Celina wore a bright red, hooded overrobe, with a line of gold embroidery down the front where a series of gold clasps were apparently supposed to keep it together—Celina had only fastened the top one. Its edges were tattered and frayed from time and wear, but for its apparent age it had been well-kept. Beneath it, she had on a tunic of some white, silk-like material with a high swallowtail collar that fell to just above her knees; her sword was belted over it. She also had on a pair of gold-patterned sandals. She'd cast her hood down, and the sunlight set the deep reds of her short hair into a fierce glow.

That wasn't the only thing that had changed.

"Your wings…"

Celina blinked at Ein, then shrugged. "Yeah… I figured you might be surprised, considering the way you've always seen the Magi. Those sealed wings that we usually bear are the wings of our governing position. This… taking on my old role as a warrior… it's no coincidence that my wings have also gone back to the way they used to look."

Her wings were pure white at their joints, almost all the way down towards their tips, which began to take on a rosy glow. Her pinion feathers were twice the size of the others, translucent, and glowed with magical power, shining from gold to red.

"We're like Grim Angels too, at least in a way. We become whatever we need to be to serve Asgard and the gods."

"So is that why we're here?" Malice asked. "So you could take on your old role or whatever?"

"No," Celina told her. "We're here because there's something I need to get—just like the two of you, I need to take hold of my full potential if I want to confront my past. And because… well, there's someone I have to say goodbye to before we leave."

"Someone…?" Ein frowned. "Wait. Celina—you mean that there's somebody still here in Asgard who hasn't evacuated?! Why the hell—?"

"He's… still here because it's impossible to move him," Celina told him at length. "You'll see. Follow me, both of you.

"After all, you want to know why it is I hate Hector so much… don't you?"

Ein and Malice exchanged mystified glances, but followed Celina into the cathedral. She walked up the aisle, then into the room that held the Mirror of Truth, but instead of turning to it or heading into the sacred chambers behind it, she knelt in a corner and traced her finger in a straight line along a nearly invisible crack in the floorboards.

The trapdoor opened; Celina pushed it up against the wall and beckoned to Ein and Malice.

"Where…?"

"The land beneath St. Kylier's Cathedral is hollow. Think of it like a basement," she advised. "It's been here since long before Ragnarok ever began. There's a ladder, but you don't have to worry. It's not dark, so you won't misstep."

And down she went. After a moment, Ein and Malice followed her.

"What the—is that a _temple? _It's glowing…"

Celina nodded, her hands on her hips, facing away from them. "Yep. This place used to be in Heaven's Gate—on a certain island that isn't there anymore—but the gods decided it was too dangerous to just leave in Midgard, so they moved the temple and everything in it here. What I'm looking for is inside. Come on—follow me."

And without another word, she strode along the shining stones up to the crumbling marble stairs, ascended them, and passed inside.

The temple was all one room, and most obviously ancient—it was nothing short of a miracle that it hadn't crumbled into dust instead of just sustaining cracks due to its age. And at the center of the room hung the most incredible thing Ein had ever seen.

"Dear gods…" he said wonderingly, unable to help gaping. "Is that… a sword…?"

Celina turned towards the Grim Angels and nodded.

The biggest broadsword Ein had ever seen hung suspended in the middle of the temple. It was encircled by obviously ensorcelled chains which connected to various points of the ceiling and floor—some kind of binding, Ein decided. It must have hung here for ages, and yet there wasn't a single spot of rust on the white steel of the blade or the gold of the hilt. Lines written in the Sacred Tongue were inscribed along the midline of the blade in neat rows, from crosspiece to the huge emerald inlaid near the tip.

"One that I loved forged this sword long, long ago," Celina said in a distant tone. "Its name is Gran Centurio."

Ein and Malice stood dumbstruck.

"Gran Centurio," Malice repeated at last. "You _cannot _be serious. The Holy Sword? The one from that old kid's story about Yggdra and Milanor…?"

"It was never just a story," Celina replied, and there was a harshness to her voice that made Ein flinch in surprise. "It was thousands and thousands of years ago, but it happened. I remember it all well."

"But—that sword's supposed to be sealed forever," Ein said hesitantly.

"The Gran Centurio was originally intended to be an instrument that would bring about a new era of peace in Midgard," Celina explained, not facing either Ein or Malice. "It absorbs energy from the user and the circumstances in which it was used. Its maker said after it was forged that he wanted to give it to a just king or queen so that its power would protect and maintain peace, but… unfortunately, it was introduced to Midgard during a time of great turmoil. It was given to a girl named Paltina, who used it for the purposes of war. Her son, who received the blade from her, created the Kingdom of Fantasinia with the Gran Centurio's power, and it was passed down their bloodline until it reached the hands of Yggdra Yuril Artwaltz. She was the first monarch to realize that the Gran Centurio had become a tainted, cursed weapon because of the way it had been used, and so after the war she was famous for, she sealed it in this temple and chose to rule with wisdom rather than power.

"It's taken hundreds of years to purify the Gran Centurio. It still has all of its power. The only reason the gods didn't destroy it was because they knew it might yet be needed. And so, Yggdra's seal… can only be broken by the gods, or one of the Magi."

"You… want to take this sword and use it against Hector…?" Ein said slowly.

"It's not a matter of choice," Celina said bitterly. "By myself, the way I am now, I may not have the power. And last night, I made an oath… to strike Hector down with this weapon. Because he's got to pay for everything he's done."

"…Celina…?"

Malice looked from Ein to Celina, then to the sealed sword. "Unbelievable…" Then she started, drawing back half a step and going pale. "Oh my—what _is _that? It looks like—some kind of coffin!"

"I was wondering how long it was going to take you to notice," Celina said wryly, and as Ein and Malice watched, she walked up to the strange object the two of them had just noticed. It did resemble a coffin to some degree; however, it was made entirely of glass, and it didn't seem to have a lid. Slowly, Ein, then Malice, drew closer, peering in so that they could see the figure that lay inside.

It seemed to be a young man somewhere between Ein and Malice's ages; he probably was about the same height as Celina or a bit shorter. He had shaggy blonde hair and was dressed in a long white robe, but there any normalcy about him ended. His skin was paler than death—whiter even than newly fallen snow—and although his chest was moving just barely, he didn't seem aware or even alive. A length of linen was wrapped over his eyes like a blindfold—or a bandage. And his hands were bound together with rune-encrusted manalith-and-iron shackles, which connected to a chain of wide golden loops that wound along his entire body, right down to his separate but still shackled ankles. As Ein and Malice stared, Celina reached out and took one of the strange sleeper's cold hands in both of her own, looking down at him with desperate eyes.

"Who… is this…?" Ein finally asked. "And why is he here… with this sword, in this temple…? Please, Celina… you've got to tell us what in the world is going on. What are these chains? Why is this guy…?"

"This…?" Celina shook her head. "These chains… they're the worst, most inhumane torture ever dreamed up by the gods. They split apart a body and soul, suspending a person's body in eternal, ageless death-sleep while their soul lives and dies and lives and dies, unable to ever attain true rest, for all of eternity, until the chains are removed or broken. And it takes _immense _power to break them, even more than the strongest Grim Angel ever born could possibly have. They're called the Chains of Conviction."

"The Chains of…" Malice stared and shook her head. "But that's imposs… those chains were only ever used once in the history of Asgard… on the angel they cast down with Ancardia…"

"That's where this temple used to _be," _Celina said pointedly. "Ancardia is sitting at the bottom of the ocean in Midgard right now. But the gods couldn't risk the possible discovery of the Gran Centurio by mortals, so… they brought it here. The Great Temple has been sitting beneath this cathedral for a very long time."

"And you… _know _this person…?" Ein asked incredulously. "Celina, how could this…?"

"Don't you _dare _judge him," she said vehemently. "You don't know anything about it! So don't…" She sighed. "I'll explain. Don't jump to any conclusions, don't you _dare. _I won't ever forgive you if you do."

Ein and Malice stared at her, bewildered. "O-okay…"

"Well… in the beginning, before the Magi became who we are now… we were just a bunch of slightly unordinary kids with a knack for magic that other people didn't have. The gods had just released their old set of proxies, and we were chosen to take their place. Back then… so many, many years ago… there were no difficulties between the eight of us. Yes, _eight. _And we had just been accepted into the full service of the gods when everything was ruined forever.

"Back then, Nessiah Artwaltz was the sweetest, kindest, most forgiving and open-hearted person you could ever hope to meet. He was the youngest of us, the frailest, and the most naïve. I loved him with absolutely everything I had… he was like a baby brother to me. To all of us, or so I thought. He had to be taken care of, had to be sheltered and protected. He didn't really seem to understand that all the world wasn't as kind as the environment he grew up in, but… all he ever wanted was to help people…

"Ness was… made the representative of Asgard to Midgard during a vicious war between most of the countries on the main continent there. He'd been so happy to get the post—he made the Gran Centurio in hopes that he could help the humans and Sprites who lived down there. And things went well, at first. But one day… something must have happened, because completely out of the blue, Ness just lost it.

"He'd seen something down there in the war that he couldn't handle. He withdrew, started keeping completely to himself. I was worried. I tried to go after him, but he was so depressed, so afraid of everything, and no matter what I did, it didn't seem like it was getting through. Ness became more and more reclusive—and so I don't even know what it was, but… he planned to do something, to cause something in Midgard… I don't know what. We only learned the details afterwards… all I knew was that suddenly Hector, who said he'd found out all this by chance, had turned him in to the gods for high treason."

Ein drew in a sharp breath, turning to Malice uncertainly, then looking back to Celina, who was staring down at the soulless body of her old friend, still clasping his hand tightly in hers.

"I didn't understand what was going on, and I didn't know what to do. Ness hadn't done _anything, _at least not yet, but because of Hector's testimony the gods stripped him of his rank and powers instantly upon taking him into custody. His wings were amputated, and he was blinded as well. And then… the gods decided that he was supposed to be executed in the middle of Heaven's Gate.

"I couldn't stand it. No one else would support me—they were afraid to go against the gods—but I didn't care at that point. I was desperate, and that made me reckless. But it wasn't right—it was too cruel to do this to Ness. He didn't need to be _punished, _he needed _help—_it was obvious that he wasn't in his right mind. I looked after him while he was waiting to be sentenced, and he was barely clinging to sanity, between the things he'd had to endure so far and the sheer physical pain he was in. It was heartbreaking. So I did the only thing I could do… I begged the gods to spare his life. I reasoned, I threatened, I cajoled, I said and did everything that I could think of.

"Well, I got what I wanted, but in such a left-handed way… it about killed me when I heard the sentence. Being bound to eternal pain is so much worse than death…

"I confronted Hector after Ness was exiled, demanded to know why he'd done such a thing. Ness was one of us, and no matter what he'd planned, as yet he'd been innocent. And Hector just laughed at me and told me, 'Because it was necessary.' The son of a bitch acted so _smug _about the whole thing. It made me so damn mad… I swear I would've killed him on the spot if Ashcroft hadn't been there to hold me back."

Celina shook her head. Her voice was controlled, but her eyes were smoldering.

"And, well… from that point on we heard about things as they happened, but couldn't interfere. Being wrongly judged, losing his wings and his sight… it twisted Nessiah into something he would otherwise never have become. Aside from the Chains of Conviction and the clothes on his back, he only took two things out of Asgard: His spellbook, the holy Revelation of the Gods… and, of course, the Gran Centurio. He gave it to Paltina and helped it grow through the ages by skillfully inciting wars, waiting for the day it would grow powerful enough to break his chains. He was out of his mind with hatred… and the only thing he wanted was revenge on the gods, for putting him through such misery. That's right—he was planning to use this sword to start Ragnarok.

"Once it had that power, he tried to take it back—Yggdra had it then; this was pretty much just after the fall of the Bronquian military. And… meeting Yggdra changed him. She wouldn't give him the Gran Centurio, and told him that the Fantasinian monarchs were done ruling by power alone. She dreamed of a peaceful world in which no war existed… the same world Ness himself had once strived for. After the Gran Centurio was sealed, well… it was the most amazing thing. Once again, Yggdra worked the magic she always did on people… Ness stayed with her and watched her lay the foundations for the place Midgard became before Ragnarok. He was actually the one who wrote the pact of alliance between Fantasinia and Bronquia that still holds to this very day… it was almost as if he was his old self again.

"Of course… Ness's part in Yggdra's story was never passed down in Asgard. In part it was to protect the privacy of one of our own, and in part to keep the scandal of his actions to a minimum. Whatever the case, the legend of the last wielder of the Gran Centurio pretty much stops right after the Battle of Flarewerk."

Celina was silent for a moment, but eventually she shook her head and went on. "Actually… Ness fought for us in Ragnarok. When the gods saw that, they decided that at the end of the war he would finally be released from the Chains, but… there just wasn't time in the end. So he's… still down there in Midgard, somewhere. Waiting for the gods to come back, like the rest of us… so that he can finally be redeemed…"

Ein stood in silent awe. It wasn't just the story that amazed him, but the fact that he was actually privy to this vulnerable, _mortal _side to Celina. She'd always been a figure of almost parental authority to him, but never quite a real person with her own hopes and fears.

"This… means a lot to you, doesn't it…?" he ventured slowly. "Defeating Hector to avenge Nessiah, I mean. Just looking at you, I can tell…"

Celina bit her lip and nodded. "Ness… was just the first in a long, long line of people whose lives were ruined by that bastard. Hector hurt him so badly, just to obtain the trust of the gods… When I think about the number of Sprites and humans and angels and demons Hector has treated exactly the same way, I can't help but get so angry it makes me crazy. He was always kind of twisted and _extremely _self-absorbed, but now he's become something evil. Because he's one of the Magi—because I once considered him to be a friend—that makes it my responsibility to damn well do something about it."

"I guess… we're all in this for basically the same reason," Ein said at length. "You have to fight Hector for Nessiah's sake. I'm fighting him for Ledah's, and all my other friends'. Malice, you're fighting him to avenge yourself, and because of what he did to Seth. He's taken… a lot away from all of us."

"…Maybe that's true," Malice admitted. "Revenge… as much as to stop him…"

Celina released Nessiah's hand, then walked slowly up to the bound Gran Centurio. She raised both hands into the air and said something in a form of the Sacred Tongue so archaic that Ein didn't understand a word of it. The angelic sword began to glow brighter and brighter, until Ein finally had to raise an arm to shield his eyes from the light; there was a chorus of snapping sounds, and then the brilliant glow faded to reveal Celina standing firm and resolute with the Holy Sword of old in her hands.

"We _will _put a stop to Hector's ambitions," she said fiercely. "For everyone suffering because of him—and to protect this sacred city!"

---

"So, Ein…" Celina began slowly.

"Yeah, what is it?"

The three of them were heading down the city's empty streets towards the portal that led to Heaven's Gate. The sun was just beginning to set, and the white stone buildings of Asgard had taken on a deep rosy glow. Ein, remembering sunsets he'd shared with his companions in Riviera, couldn't help but feel a little melancholy at the sight.

"You said… you made some other friends in Riviera," Celina reminded him. "I can't help but be a little curious… I know that Hector… that it might be painful, but if you don't mind… may I hear a little more about them?"

"I don't mind at all," Ein said, surprising himself a little. "While I was fighting the Accursed, I met four Sprite girls who all decided to help me—Fia Campbell and Lina… well, Lyuri, but Lina is her nickname… Lina Horaki, who took me in while I had amnesia; Serene Adjani, the last of the Arcs; and Cierra Nagisa, a witch. They were all my dear friends, and despite everything we went through and all the trouble I got us in, they were always very kind to me. Cierra and Fia… both saved us all from Hector's traps in the Maze of Shadows. They sacrificed themselves to let us go on. When we fought Hector, he cast a spell that sent Lina, Rose, and me back to Riviera, but Serene wasn't with us—Hector probably killed her and took her soul to awaken Seth. Rose… died from her injuries a little after that, and Lina… she's still alive, but there's something wrong with her. She still has her soul, but she just sleeps and sleeps and won't wake up no matter what we do…"

Celina, who had been listening sympathetically, raised her eyebrows and put her hands on her hips, stopping in the middle of the street. "That sounds a lot like the little-death spell. It's complicated to cast and doesn't affect everyone it hits, but it's curable enough. If I can see your friend Lina, I can wake her up easily."

Ein stared. "R-really?! You mean you can save her?!"

Celina smiled and nodded. "Yep. Just take me to her, and I'll have her back to normal in no time at all. We'll need all the help we can get fighting Hector's demons, after all."

"Aren't you two forgetting something?" Malice said, her voice grating as she crossed her arms, annoyed. "It took us _weeks _to get from Elendia to Heaven's Gate. We aren't going to have the time. You'll have to rescue your friend after Hector is defeated."

"We really don't have to worry about that, actually," Celina told her. "I can get us around _much _faster than you two would be able to travel on your own. Once we're in Riviera, I can teleport us basically anywhere so long as it's not too close to the gods' graves. There's a powerful barrier around it that makes transport spells difficult, and from the way you two put it, Ursula's made it even stronger… but anyplace else should be fine. Once we get through Heaven's Gate, we'll camp at the circle and then tomorrow I'll take us to the village your friend Lina is at."

"That's convenient," Malice said, her voice so even it was impossible to tell what she thought about this. "Well—if we have to, I guess we have to. But never forget that we have a score that's got to be settled as soon as possible."

"It's pretty hard to forget that," Ein replied with a sigh and a shake of his head. "Okay… it's settled. Tomorrow we'll save Lina… and then get ready to save everyone else!"

:TBC:


	11. Touch

The Tainted

See disclaimer in Part 1

It didn't take anywhere near as long for Ein, Malice, and Celina to get through Heaven's Gate as it had the previous times Ein had passed that way. Maybe it was just that he was experienced now and they were taking the fast route, but one of the factors was definitely that there were no patrol demons dumb enough to pick a fight with two Grim Angels and one of the Seven Magi.

The three of them got through the floating islands in only a few hours, and were back at the magic circle so fast that Ein was amazed. But what they found when they passed through definitely destroyed Ein's good mood.

"…Didn't you say that Seth was waiting here?" Celina asked with a frown, looking around the empty clearing and putting her hands on her hips. "I don't see anyone anywhere."

"You're right… that's odd. Why would she go off by herself?" Ein wondered aloud, worried. "Seth knows how important this is…"

"Well, who knows what goes on in her head?" Malice said flippantly. As Ein turned to glare at her, she sobered, folding her arms at her chest. "Either Seth let her childish nature get the better of her and wandered off, or she didn't leave here of her own free will. One way or the other, we have to find her now. If Hector gets hold of her, then…"

"Gods, this is really bad," Ein murmured, shaking his head. "Who knows if we'll even have time to save Lina now…"

"You two…" Celina said suddenly. Both of them turned towards her. "Look here… there are scratches on one of the standing stones, and this looks like it could be blood. Seth may have been attacked, sought shelter. Some kind of struggle definitely took place here…"

Ein caught sight of something lying in the grass and walked towards it, his heart in his throat. As soon as he was able to see it clearly, he let out a short cry and ran to pick it up.

"What is it?"

"This…" He held it up, stricken. "This is Seth's hair ribbon. She's… she has to be…"

Malice cursed under her breath. "…She probably froze again and couldn't fight back. Damn it. This is the very last thing we need right now. If Hector has her…"

Ein bit his lip, remembering the state Seth had been in when he'd first found her. "We've got to save her as soon as we can!"

"Calm down," Celina ordered both of them, causing them to turn and stare at her. "Believe me, I know more than anyone how much you want to rescue her, but if we go charging into Hector's army like this, it's suicide. You two need rest, and now more than ever, we need your friend Lina."

"Huh?"

"It is going to take Hector a _long _time to unravel the protections on the gods' graves, then to actually get at their power, and he'll take as many precautions as he can to make absolutely sure he won't be disturbed. He and Seth will be at the center of his entire fucking _army—_do you understand? We'll need as much help as we can get, and even then we'll only be able to punch a hole through their ranks to get in. While the three of us fight Hector, we're going to need a backup fighter to keep the demons off our asses. There are times when you're just completely too predictable, Ein—and this is one of them. Your harebrained little plan to just run in and save Seth no matter what the consequences happen to be to yourself is exactly the kind of idiot scheme Ecthel would've come up with.

"And you don't even have the excuse of there being an army rushing to save you if you fuck up.

"Do you _understand _yet? You've already lost so much, both of you. Ein, Hector has murdered your friends and double-crossed and used you with absolute abandon. Malice, he enslaved you, tortured and brainwashed you, abused you at his every chance, owned you body and soul. There is _no fucking way _that I am going to let him kill you, too. Not when you two have just started to rebuild. Not when this might be my last damn chance to do right by someone in my care. You got it? We're sticking to the plan—we stay the night here, move on to Elendia tomorrow, and then decide on our strategy from there."

Ein hung his head. "I… I know. But…"

"We may not have lived as long as you, or hated Hector as long as you, but we've got plenty reason to act as recklessly as we please," Malice said mulishly. "What you say makes sense, but understand that there's only so long that logic is going to hold back my desire to make that creature _bleed."_

"I know full well that I can only rein you in for so long," Celina retorted. "You can vent on Hector soon, trust me on that. For now, you need to rest so that you _can _take all your hate out on him when the time comes. Logic may not seem like much right now, but as soon as we get near Hector it's going to go straight out of all three of our heads, so we'd better listen to it now while we can. Okay? So let's make camp. I'll take watch while you guys sleep."

Ein sighed. "…You're right, as usual. But… don't push yourself too hard, either."

Celina shook her head and gave him a wry smile. "I know. You don't need to lecture me."

---

_Ein's entire mind, even the tiny corner of it that was still wholly his, seemed wracked with painful memories._

_There wasn't any escape from it._

_"Hurry, everyone!"_

_Ein's heart pulsed with pain at every step he took. He cursed himself with every sharp and gasping breath he took. There hadn't been anything he could do—but still, he hated himself bitterly for having to leave Cierra behind._

_Ledah, and now Cierra… how many lives was this going to cost before the end?!_

_"(We may still be able to go back for her once Hector is defeated,)" Rose told him, but her words didn't ring true. "(Ein, don't act like this—there was nothing you could've done…)"_

_"Just shut up," Ein retorted. "I swore… I swore back then that I was never going to let anyone else die like that! So… so how am I supposed to face myself now…?! Damn it…"_

_"Ein, wait!"_

_It was Fia. Surprised, Ein skidded to a halt, with Serene, Lina, and Rose following suit moments later._

_"What is it?"_

_"I can feel a powerful demonic presence up ahead," the young fencer told her friends. "The hall is narrow—it's possible that there's another trap."_

_"So what are we supposed to do _now?" _Serene demanded, glaring towards the corridor ahead. "Damn it, that bastard already got Cierra with his last dirty trick… isn't there any other way around?"_

_"Serene, calm down," Fia said, placing a hand on the Arc's shoulder. "The aura I'm feeling is coming from the walls. You can see all the reliefs carved into it—that's the trap, I'm sure of it. I've no doubt that this is here to hold us back so that we won't be able to stop Hector from resurrecting Seth. But… I think I can nullify the magic there with my own power long enough for us to get through."_

_"Fia, are you serious?" Ein asked, staring at her. "Are you absolutely sure you'll be able to hold it so that we can _all _get through? If you're lying just so that the rest of us can…"_

_"Ein, trust me," Fia told him, smiling at him. "Do you think I would put you, or Lina, or Serene, or Rose in that kind of danger? I'll go in first just in case, and as soon as I know it's stable, I'll tell you to go. Run—there won't be enough time otherwise. Okay?"_

_"Fia…" Lina bit her lip, looking up at her friend with worried eyes._

_"Fia… we…" Ein shook his head mutely._

_"(You know she's right, Ein,)" Rose told him. "(How are we going to stop Hector from taking any more lives if we can't even get to him? You've got to trust her.)"_

_"…Okay…" Ein sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "We'll do what you say. But, Fia… don't risk yourself. I don't think I could stand it if anyone else dies. So please…"_

_Fia didn't answer. Instead, she took a deep breath and ran forward into the corridor, white light glowing from her palms. As the others watched anxiously, she charged down to the bend in the hall and stood there, magewind tossing her hair and sending her wide skirts billowing._

_"Now! Hurry, go!"_

_Serene and Lina ran ahead, with Rose right after them. Ein hesitated for a moment, then broke into a headlong dash, passing the girls and breaking back into the crystal walkway._

_"Okay, we all made it! Hurry, Fia, and—"_

_Just as Ein started to turn around, he heard Fia's shriek, followed swiftly by Serene's shouted curse, Lina's pitched wail, and Rose's desolate call. And the part of his heart that had been slowly dying ever since Ledah had breathed his last in Yggdrasil withered._

_When he turned, it seemed as though the steady pattern of sharp curls and waves along the booby-trapped corridor's wall had reached out, formed a hand, and grabbed Fia in its clawlike fingers. Now she was plastered up against the wall with stone encircling her waist, arms, and ankles, spread-eagled and defenseless._

_"Fia!!"_

_"I… messed up," she said with a weak laugh._

_Lina let out a wordless cry and surged forward, but Serene grabbed her around the waist and held her back. "No, stupid! Don't go in there! You know what'll happen if you do…!"_

_"But, but!!" Lina cried, struggling fiercely. "Fia!!"_

_"Fia, are you crazy?!" Ein demanded, clenching his fists and starting to shake. "You know we can't just leave you here! I won't let you sacrifice yourself just for something like this! We can find another way! So…!"_

_"So… what, Ein…?" Fia asked him, trying to shake her head with little success. "If you come through here, you'll be caught too. The only way for you is forward now. Besides, this isn't a life-threatening trap. It's just here to hold us still, waste our time. Don't worry about me, just go! I'll catch up with you later, when my power comes back. Okay?"_

_"But as long as you're in here, you're defenseless! If one of Hector's goons comes this way, they could kill you, or worse!" Ein protested helplessly. "Fia…!"_

_"It's okay," Fia said slowly, smiling. "It's like Cierra said… some things… some _people_ are just worth going through pain for. Don't call it a sacrifice. I'm choosing to do this to help you of my own will." She sobered, bit her lip, and looked at them all silently for a moment before finally speaking. "Now, go! Don't look back! If you do… if you do, I'll never forgive you, Ein! Everyone… I leave the rest to you now. Serene…!"_

_"I… I understand!" Serene tightened her hold on Lina, grabbed Ein by the arm, and dragged both of them towards the next magic circle, pulling them through before either of them could protest._

_Once they were on the other side, she stopped, breathing hard, even as they struggled against her iron grip._

_"Serene, let go! Let go!!" Lina wailed. "Fia… Fia's gonna…!"_

_"If we don't do something, it'll be just like Ledah and Cierra! Serene…!"_

_"Will you two both just SHUT UP!"_

_Ein and Lina both stared, silent even through their tears._

_"Fia knew what she was doing the second she stepped into that stupid trap," Serene shouted at them. "She probably knew she didn't have the kind of power to get out if she was going to help all of us through, and she decided to do it anyway! She told us to go on because I'm sure that stupid Hector knew one of us was going to throw herself into his trap just to get Ein forward, and someone's going to come for her. Fia doesn't want us to see that! She… doesn't want our last memory of her to be something like that… so…!"_

_"Then why…?"_

_"Because there's nothing else we can do, don't you get it?!" Serene burst out, glaring at Ein, and he noticed that she was crying too, shaking with fury and grief. "Because Fia was right and even if we don't want to admit it, nothing we do can change her fate now! All we can do is get to Hector and make him pay for making us do this!"_

_"I…" Ein gritted his teeth and turned away from the circle, balling his hands into helpless fists. "I hate this!"_

---

Ein jolted awake with a strangled cry, lurching upright and clutching the hilt of his Diviner.

"What's wrong?"

He turned with another yelp—he'd almost forgotten that Celina had volunteered to do the watch.

"Bad dream?"

Ein sighed and slumped down, pressing his forehead into his knees. "Bad… _memories…"_

"Really…" Celina made a face and patted the ground next to her. "Come here."

Ein did. She put an arm around him and drew him close against her side, folding her wing around him as Ledah had done so many times when the two of them had traveled together. It seemed so long ago now.

"Why is it that no matter what I do… everyone I love always has to die…?" he wondered aloud.

"…It's… a testament to how strongly they feel about you that they're willing to throw their lives away for your cause," Celina said slowly. "When someone loves someone else that much… they'll do anything to protect that person, thinking that they're helping you with their life or death, not even realizing the pain they'll cause you by dying. Maybe it's a selfish way of thinking, maybe not. I don't know. But what I do know is that even though it's made you suffer so much… that even now, you wouldn't hesitate to lay down your life for your loved ones. Angels, humans, demons, Sprites… even us Magi… we're all like that, all foolish mortals who can't help but think, if only the way we go out _matters… _then maybe…"

"But the Magi are immortal, aren't they?" Ein asked her, trying not to think about his lost friends.

"…The life spans of angels used to be a lot longer before the gods left us," Celina told him. "Before that time, angels could live thousands of years before reaching old age. Once they were gone, well… you know how it turned out. You yourself will only live a couple hundred years at best. But what the gods do is… they take ordinary mortal angels and freeze their biological clocks so that they'll live for much, much longer even than angels used to in the old days. Once the gods come back, the current Magi's term of office, so to speak, will end—we'll be released, our lives will start again, and we'll live out the rest of our days just like any of you. It… sucks… not being able to die when you're supposed to… seeing everyone you grew up with get old… nobody should really see that. When I'm released from my service… it'll be a relief, really."

"…Oh…" Ein sighed as the memory of what Serene had said echoed through his head. "…Hey, Celina… can I ask you something…?"

She looked down at him. "Sure, what is it?"

"…Your last memory of Nessiah… I mean, the last time the two of you were really face to face, the last time you were close to him… what is it…?"

Celina's expression darkened, and she turned towards the fire. "…I only got a glimpse of him at the trial, so… not counting that…" She looked down at her hands. "I took care of him during the wait. His wounds were… they were really severe. They wouldn't stop bleeding. When an angel is… when someone's wings are amputated, it's not like it was for you—the wounds aren't cauterized right away, and Ness… it was like his blood wouldn't clot, like his flesh didn't want to knit. And no one really wanted to treat him. The pain was so bad, he… he was literally out of his mind with sheer agony. And his eyes…" Celina shuddered. "He kept scratching, making it worse, reopening the scabs. He was in so much pain, he was so scared, and I… I was so pathetic. All I could do was hold him. Every time I think of him, I remember the way he used to be, but I also remember him like _that. _I think of him talking, or laughing, just to remember the sound of his voice, and I can't fight back the memories of him crying, screaming until his voice broke, until he got so hoarse that he could barely make a sound. It's a horrible memory, a painful memory, but it's the last one, and so I can't help but go back to it, over and over again."

"…………" Ein tried to imagine it, but couldn't. All he knew was that if he'd seen Fia and Cierra and Serene die, or if Ledah's death hadn't been so dignified, he wouldn't have been able to bear it. Maybe Serene had been right after all. "Celina… I…"

She grimaced. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be so depressing. But… just know this: We're going to stop Hector very soon. Nothing like that is ever going to happen to those we love again. It's going to be okay, Ein. I promise."

_Don't promise what you can't give, _he wanted to say, but didn't. Instead, he leaned into Celina's side, and let the soothing rhythm of her stroking his hair lull him back into sleep.

---

The people of Elendia were surprised, to say the least, when Ein and his company arrived the next morning. Many had been sure that even if their wingless angel triumphed over Hector, he would never want to come back here again… but here he was, and his "stay away from me" aura had softened considerably. The Grim Angel he was with also seemed a lot less severe; she was almost relaxed in comparison to her constant, malevolent vigilance the last time she'd been in their town.

And then there was the matter of the third angel with them—the one who wore such dangerous-looking swords, as well as a smile.

The three travelers headed straight for Fia and Lina's house to speak with Ladie, who stood guard outside while the small home's only occupant slept inside.

"Ladie… there's a way for us to wake up Lina," Ein told her anxiously. "Please… you've got to let us in. We can save her…"

"If that is so, then…" The red-haired young woman stepped away from the door and bowed to the three angels. "Elendia isn't the same without that child. If you can save her, then do it."

Ein nodded to Ladie and stepped into the house.

Lina lay in bed with her stuffed animal collection lovingly arranged around her. Someone had changed her out of her dusty, stained travel clothes and into her nightgown; her hair had been taken loose and combed. Ladie or someone else or maybe a _lot _of someone elses were taking very good care of Lina, even if they didn't know how to wake her.

"…Okay. I'm going to do the spell now. You two should step back," Celina told them, motioning with one hand for them to stand away.

"Right…" Ein edged back nervously, biting his lip.

Celina held out her hands in front of her, closed her eyes, and shifted her weight, rocking forward onto her toes with her wings outstretched. White light gathered in her palms, and she said something in that ancient, ancient form of the Sacred Tongue that Ein couldn't hope to understand. The light around Celina swirled around Lina, slowly bringing color back into her face.

"Come on… come back," Celina murmured, a frown creasing her brow. "There's someone here waiting to see you."

"Mmn…" Lina's eyelids fluttered, and she turned slightly where she lay. "Wha…"

"Lina!!" Ein pushed past his companions and knelt at the young archer's bedside. "Lina, are you awake?! Say something!"

Lina made a face, opened her eyes halfway, and stared at him. "Ein, is that…?"

"Oh, thank the gods…" Ein smiled, feeling tears sting his eyes. "Lina, you're okay…"

"What _happened?" _Lina asked plaintively, pushing herself up. "Lina remembers the Maze of Shadows… and the fight… but then, everything is all…"

"It's a bit of a long story," Celina said with a shrug. "Nice to meet you, by the way."

Lina turned and seemed to notice that she and Ein had company for the first time: Celina stood just behind him, the very picture of irrepressible good cheer, and Malice off towards the stairs, facing to the side with her arms crossed and her shoulders hunched.

"Ehh… UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH?!" Lina pointed to one, then the other. "Wha… wha…?"

"Um, yeah." Ein sweatdropped. "You've… been asleep for a while, Lina. Malice… well, I guess the gist of it is she's on our side now, and… and this is Celina. She's one of the Seven Magi, but she's nothing like Hector, she's coming with us to fight him because she hates him, and…"

Celina patted Ein's hair. "I apologize for him. Ein hasn't had it easy for the time you've been asleep, and I suppose compressing the entire story to tell it to you quickly is beyond him. Ein, Malice, why don't you two go downstairs while _I _talk to Lina? You'll only confuse her more."

Ein sighed. "You're probably right, as usual…"

"Fine," Malice said sulkily.

"Okay, kids, then that's your cue to amscray," Celina said, waving her hands at them in a get-moving gesture. "I should probably start by introducing myself. My name is Celina Mizer, and like Ein said, I'm one of the other Magi who governs Asgard…"

Ein and Malice trooped down the stairs to sit at the kitchen table, both sighing.

"Well, at least I'm not the one who has to explain everything," Ein said, shaking his head. "What happened while she was unconscious… why Serene and Rose aren't here… I wouldn't know what to say."

"…………" Malice stood up. "…Having one of your friends back makes you happy, doesn't it?"

"Yes, but…" Ein looked up at her. "It's… it's also awkward. Lina has so much reason to hate you and Celina, but I don't want her to reject you. You're as important to me as she is."

"…Really…"

"You've helped me a lot lately," Ein said helplessly, standing up and walking over to Malice, who looked away from him. "I wouldn't have made it this far without you."

Malice said nothing.

"And you… you've always supported me." Ein shook his head numbly. "The first time I went crying to you, I was just looking for something to latch on to, it didn't matter who or what it was. And you knew it was impersonal, but you didn't push me away. And from then on… it got awkward, turning to you when I needed someone, because of the things you've done, the distance between us. But in Asgard, when I had to face up to what I am, and you came after me, I realized… that distance has closed a lot. You have every reason to want to stay away from everyone. I don't know how willing you are or aren't to touch someone else, to get close to them, but… you still held my hand. You held me together when my world was falling apart."

"…………" Malice turned towards him, her expression impossible to read.

"Malice, could I…" Ein felt something inside his heart shaking, could feel his face heating up, but didn't stop. "Could I hold your hand again…?"

"…………" Malice was silent as she considered him. Ein closed his eyes and sighed.

Wonder bloomed between them when he felt the warm press of her fingers wind through his own.

:TBC:


	12. Interlude: Her Paper Heart

The Tainted

Interlude: Her Paper Heart

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Riviera or Seth or anybody else, but I do own The Tainted and this associated oneshot. Don't steal plx, for Reiko is hungry and you are crunchy and good with ketchup. :D

_Some days I can't help but feel as if none of this is real. It's as though I'm nothing more than an empty shell with a paper heart, and my memories are no more than badly-drawn things of pencil and crayon…_

Seth sighed and stretched a hand out towards the ceiling, feeling worn out and irritable despite the fact that she'd barely awakened five minutes ago or so. Lately, her dreams were full of darkness, smoke, and pain, and they never failed to put her in a bad mood.

She had no idea why she felt so out of sorts these days. After all, she had everything any sensible girl her age would want—loving parents, the rare freedom of her own small studio apartment, flowing finances, good grades, and better friends. Her life had been good to her for sixteen years, and it didn't look as though it was going to change any time soon.

Annoyed by the fact that she felt so annoyed, Seth drew the covers back up to her chest and rolled onto her side, glaring at her clock.

She managed to stare at it for a grand total of half a minute before she realized the position the hands were in and leapt out of bed with a shriek.

---

"OH MY GOD!"

Seth pelted down the sidewalk towards the school gate, her bag in one hand and a piece of half-eaten toast in the other. She'd barely managed to get herself in order today—_why _had she decided to reset her alarm last night when she'd known that meant it probably wouldn't go off?!

Furious with herself, she charged through the schoolyard and into the building, her nearly-black Oxfords sliding on the newly-polished floors and the skirt of her uniform billowing almost all the way up to her hips. Today was going to be close—but she was pretty sure she would make it. Damned if she was going to get her first-ever tardy just because of her stupid dreams!

The bell rang just as she blasted into the classroom, startling her so badly that she slipped on the floor and would've wound up flat on her butt if a supportive arm hadn't been there to break her fall.

Blinking, Seth looked up at her savior and sighed with relief. It was the president of the Student Council—blonde, carmine-eyed Ledah Rozwelli, who while not one of Seth's closest friends was someone she trusted absolutely. Everyone did. Quiet, sober, mature Ledah was the type everyone knew they could depend on.

"Thanks," she managed weakly as he gently propelled her towards her seat.

"Be more careful," he admonished her, then went to sit down towards the front of the room, where his best friend and fellow Student Council member Ein Legendra was getting up in order to take the roll for the teacher, who was as yet absent. Seth smiled at him in thanks as she headed for her desk. Half the girls in the school were in love with Ledah due to his beauty and his kindness, but Seth knew where _his _true affections lay—she'd seen him with Ein a few times in the halls at the end of the day. Instead of being jealous, Seth was happy for the two of them and thought they were a very cute couple.

"Cutting it a little close today, aren't you?" Seth's best friend Rose asked as she sat down. "You almost didn't make it. Are you sure your alarm's working?"

Seth groaned and slumped against her desk. "I know I need to get a new one, but I just don't have the time with all this homework. I can buy one after the stupid finals are over."

"Maybe I should start coming over to wake you up just in case," Rose suggested. "You can't afford to be late with the school you're trying to get into."

Seth made a face, then sighed in acquiescence. "I hate to make you go out of your way, though."

"Don't worry about it. After all, your apartment building is just a street down from mine."

The sound of angry voices in the hall interrupted their conversation; even Ein, who'd been halfway through the roll, fell silent and looked awkwardly towards the door as a pair of latecomers burst in.

"Malice, what is it?" Ein asked at length, looking towards the older of the two girls, an irate blonde with the Student Council badge pinned to her sleeve and a T-square in her hand.

"I caught this _imbecile _trying to cut class for the sixth time this week," Malice fumed, pointing at the girl she'd dragged inside. "Someone honestly needs to _do _something about her!"

The other girl—Serene, a friend of Seth's who tended to be a bit of a delinquent—stuck out her tongue at Malice. "It's boring in here! What's wrong with wanting to go do something worthwhile for a change?"

As the pair of them squabbled, ignoring Ein's hesitant attempts at mediation, Seth covered a smile. She was on time, Rose was here, and Malice and Serene were at each other's throats as usual. Her day was officially complete.

She didn't stop smiling until the teacher came in and finally broke up the fight, letting everyone get down to business.

---

_It was cold and dark in the castle, and she could see her breath in the dank air before her._

_"My lord, the spell you set seems to be eroding. Are you sure it's going to be alright to—"_

_"Stop your incessant complaints." This voice was cold and cruel and made the hair on the small of her back stand on end. "Look at her—she's dreaming deeply. She isn't going to wake up anytime soon."_

"—wake up."

"…nnn…"

"Miss Armitage, _wake up!"_

Seth yelped and practically jumped out of her seat, clenching her hands on the pages of the book she'd been holding as she gave the angry teacher a panicked look. "OHMIGOD! N-Nagisa-sensei… I am sooo sorry! I swear it's not gonna happen again!"

The teacher sighed and folded her arms, looking worried. "I hope it doesn't. This is unusual for you. …Now, who has been _awake _for long enough to answer the question?"

Seth sank down in her seat, crimson all the way to the ears, furious with herself and her dreams. Up until now, school had been the last place she'd had where she still felt entirely _real, _the only refuge she had from that odd hollow feeling that had been bothering her for so long.

What was _happening _to her?

---

"Are you sure you're doing okay?" Rose asked as Seth waved goodbye to Ein and Ledah at the school gate. "I mean… I know you've been kind of spacey lately because of all the stress, but I've never seen you actually fall asleep at your desk before! I was poking you with a pencil while the teacher wasn't looking, but you didn't even flinch! Have you been feeling sick or something?"

"No, I just…" Seth sighed. "I've just been feeling a little weird. That's all. And my dreams aren't very… restful." She couldn't tell Rose any more than that—the other girl would never believe her.

"Maybe you should take a day off and just rest," Rose suggested. "That's probably all you really need, you know."

"Maybe…"

Wearing a smile made awkward by her friend's gloomy aura, Rose shrugged. "So… Serene and Lina and some other kids are having a get-together down at the ramen shop on the corner, and we're going to go out for karaoke afterwards. Do you wanna come?"

Seth made a face. "No… I think I'd better just go home. I'd just weigh you all down, anyway."

"Well, if you're sure…" Rose hesitated for a moment, then went off in another direction, waving goodbye to her friend.

Seth stood still and watched Rose leave, then turned around and began the walk back to her apartment.

She just couldn't understand what was wrong with her these days. Sometimes when she thought of her parents or her old friends, she couldn't remember their faces, and her dreams got worse and worse every night. Maybe she really was sick, as Rose thought… or maybe she was just going crazy. Seth was tired of it, either way, and it was scary.

Seth was jolted from her reverie as she brushed shoulders with someone and realized that she hadn't been watching where she was going. She looked up, an apology already formed, and found herself facing a tall, elegant woman with long blue hair and violet eyes who stood silent and dignified, wearing only a length of bandage that trailed across her body like a thick white ribbon.

"Do you remember?" the woman asked.

Seth stared, shook her head, and rubbed her eyes. When she looked again, the woman was gone.

Confused and afraid, Seth stared into the window of a nearby store to clear her head. However, while she could see the merchandise and the people inside, the reflection on the glass was something out of a nightmare. Her mirror-self wore a shellshocked, empty expression, a gold-and-black tiger-striped leotard, and heavy chains that wrapped around her arms and legs, fixing her to an arcane-looking circle in a bleak, dead landscape shrouded in smoke and flames.

Seth did what any sensible girl her age would've done.

She bolted, and she didn't stop running until the door to her apartment was locked behind her.

"What's… happening to me?" she asked aloud, and walked on unsteady legs into her bedroom.

Every time she blinked, the familiar surroundings seemed to haze and fade like a transparent image over the dank, chilly castle room of her dreams.

_My heart and my mind… are like blank paper. I don't know if the drawings there… are the ones I've made with my memories, or fabrications made by someone else… where do the lies end, and where is the truth…? I can't tell them apart…_

_What's happening… to me? Is the truth becoming the lie… or the lie the truth…?_

"You're waking up."

Seth jolted; she knew that voice. Whirling around, she saw Ledah standing in the doorway—however, instead of being a comforting, familiar presence, seeing her classmate scared her even more. He wasn't wearing his usual uniform and silver-framed glasses, but instead rich, bloodred priest's robes and a brighter red mantle. His hair was wild, his expression cold and unforgiving—but his eyes as kind as she normally remembered.

And… he had wings. Angel's wings—but the deepest black Seth had ever seen in her life.

"What's… going on? What do you mean, I'm waking up? Is this… is any of this real…?"

"You've been dreaming," was what Ledah told her. "But you're waking up, because you're too strong to be held by even a spell as complex as this one. Your captors fear you, and so they thought to bind you—but you're not weak enough or stupid enough to be caught in their web. The feelings you've been having, the dreams—you know this isn't real."

"Then who are _you?" _Seth demanded, her voice shrill. "And how do _you _know all this?"

"I am a soldier of the gods, but those who seek to use you have already defeated me. Because they used me as part of your dream, I was able to get through to you… to watch over you as you started to wake. Hector may be cruel and cunning, but he is not all-knowing. So with the last of my spirit's strength… I came here, to tell you these things when the time came."

Seth's mind rebelled at his words, but something in her heart recognized the name "Hector" and sent chills through her body. "What's… going on here? How am I supposed to trust you? This is _insane!"_

"A struggle has been taking place in our world… one that reaches back through the millennia. Hector is attempting to usurp the gods through your powers, and those who wish to help you—those who are coming for you—stand in his way. You have suffered atrocities at his hands, and you have made your choice." Ledah cocked his head a little as he regarded her. "As for trusting me… you don't have to. You only have to trust yourself.

"You know the truth. In all probability, you can't even put images to most of the memories that have been created for you here. You've clung to the life of your schooling—I've watched you. Is that because it feels more solid to you? It would… Hector and his spellweavers used the faces of his victims, and of your own loved ones, for the images that would make up your day-to-day life here. Your friends here are the only things you know in this dream that have some basis in reality.

"Now… Seth, the Sealed One, the emissary of death… what is it that you want?"

_What is he, stupid?! I want him and all of this to go away! I want to be normal and hang out with Rose and forget all this tomorrow and go to college and live my life and…_

However, the frantic thoughts running through Seth's mind didn't reach her lips. "I want… to be someplace where I don't feel like I'm not real," she said softly.

Before she could retract her words or even take another breath, the fabrications around her shattered like so many fragments of broken glass.

_---_

_She opened her eyes._

_The blue-robed man on the opposite side of the room smirked as he watched her. "That interfering wretch. I should've destroyed the remnants of his soul when I had the chance."_

_"I… aM aWaKe nOw." Seth shuddered in her chains. "YoU cAnNot bInd mE. YoU lAck tHE pOwER, aND ThE rIghT."_

_"We shall see about that," Hector replied in a scoff._

_Painfully, laboriously, Seth raised her head to give him a baleful glare. "He WiLL cOmE. EiN… wIll cOme fOr mE. AnD yoU wILL RUe thE dAy yOU sOuGHt tO cOnTRoL tHe pOWers oF thE GODS."_

_She sighed, and lapsed back into dreamless sleep, free of the memories of other world and might-have-beens, trusting the words of the dead priest and waiting for the young angel she _knew _was coming to save her even now._

_She slept, and her paper heart was once more as white and empty as it had been on the day she'd first drawn breath._

:TBC:


	13. Blitzkrieg

The Tainted

See disclaimer in Part 1

The small party of fighters gathered at the outskirts of Elendia as twilight began to fall. To Ein, Lina seemed unusually sober—likely from hearing what had happened to Serene and Rose—but she wasn't raising a fuss about it, merely watching him expectantly. Beside him, Malice seemed a little less sullen than before, although she still had her arms crossed and was looking off down the road. Celina simply stood behind the young archer with her hands on her hips, waiting.

"Okay…" Ein said with a sigh, raking his bangs back from his face. "Celina, take us to where Hector and Seth are. Let's end this."

Celina just shook her head at him. "It's not that simple, Ein. Remember how I told you about the magical barrier around where the gods' resting place is? If I tried to teleport us there, not only would we be thrown off-course, the spell would be disrupted and we'd end up scattered all across Riviera. I can transport us to just outside the field, but I'm sure Hector's army will be stationed at that point. I'm going to take us close, but from there on it'll be one long fight until we get through."

"So do it," Malice insisted. "We haven't got all year to waffle over it."

"Impatient, aren't we?" Celina raised her eyebrows and gave Malice a mildly amused look. "I will, as soon as we go over the plan one more time. We don't want any mistakes, not with everything that's riding on our victory."

"Okay," Ein said with a sigh. "After all, something's bound to not go right, so we'd better be as prepared as we can be, and all know what we're supposed to do."

"Exactly. I'll transport us as close as I dare to, and we'll head towards Hector from there," Celina reminded them. "That'll basically be one big battle, and we've got two rules: Nobody gets left behind, and we don't stop for anything _but _helping each other. We need everyone to make this work."

Lina nodded. "Once everyone gets through, Lina will keep the demons away so you all can fight."

"I'll take Hector on," Celina told them. "I've known him the longest, so I'm most familiar with his fighting style. I'll have the best chance at holding him off."

"While you're distracting him, Ein and I will find Seth and do what we can to free her," Malice said with a curt nod.

"And once we're done, we'll join you," Ein finished. "Seth will probably wind up helping Lina, since I'm not sure she can face up to Hector without freezing again. We don't know whether or not the demons will break and run after Hector falls, so we'll have to be prepared for another long fight to get through them again afterwards. Ursula might help us and she might not, but it'll be a lot easier with Seth."

"Seth is really that powerful?" Lina asked. "It's hard to believe…"

"Yeah," Ein replied, shaking his head. "Malice and I saw her take out an entire platoon of demons all by herself. It was unbelievable… especially since she just looks like any ordinary Sprite."

"Ursula had that kind of power too, once," Celina supplied. "Remember, Ursula and Seth were once one person. When Ursula's physical body died and Seth was sealed, their powers were lessened, and everything that's happened is draining Ursula's strength considerably, but…"

"So, why did Hector take her back so easily then?" Lina asked, spreading her hands in confusion. "Lina doesn't really get it."

"Because Seth is terrified of him," Malice said softly, her voice cold. "After everything he's done to her… it's hard to see how she wouldn't be."

"…………" Ein watched her worriedly. "…Malice…"

"Don't give me that look," she snapped, tossing her hair. "I'm fine. You don't need to baby me through this fight. When it comes down to it, all of us had that same decision—we could either hate Hector or fear him, and all of us chose to hate him instead."

"Is everyone ready, then?" Celina asked, looking from Ein to Malice to Lina. "If there's anything anyone wants to say or do before we go, now's the time. This is an insanely dangerous plan—any number of us could die even if we win."

"Lina won't have any regrets, either way," the little archer proclaimed, sticking out her chest. "Fia and everyone are already gone, so… there's no one else Lina wants to say goodbye to."

"…It's the same here," Malice said with a brief shake of her head. "Besides, I don't plan on losing to someone like him."

"I've already said all my goodbyes," Ein agreed. "Ledah and the others are watching over me… and the three of you will be with me. There's no time for regrets. We have to win."

"Okay. Then, get yourselves armed, everyone, and gather around me." So saying, Celina drew the plain and unadorned sword sheathed at her hip.

Ein flinched, sudden pain throbbing through his temples, as he saw it; a vague memory surfaced in his mind of picking up that very sword and swinging it around with a desperate yell, fighting off waves upon waves of demons. He grimaced as nausea ripped through his stomach: Ecthel's memories again. He wasn't surprised that Celina was using that sword…

"You're not using the Gran Centurio?" Malice asked with a frown.

"Nope," Celina replied with a bitter smile. "Trust me, I really don't want to use that thing unless I have no choice, i.e. against Hector. It might look like a sword, but it's really a giant sponge. And if I use it to fight through all those demons, it'll start to become corrupted again."

"Oh." Malice shrugged, then took out her Diviner. "Well, then…"

"Lina's ready!" Lina strung her longbow, pulling an arrow from her quiver. "For Fia and Elendia!"

Ein took a deep breath and edged closer to Celina. "Here we go…"

As he drew Einherjar, Celina spoke her spell, and the autumn forest around them swirled and vanished into an endless sea of stars.

---

Ein's dizziness cleared quickly. He blinked a few times, then reoriented himself: He and the others were standing at the edge of a sea of pine, overlooking a near-spherical valley nearly filled with demons. In the middle of their mass, however, was a spherical clear spot, where Ein could just make out a figure in blue robes standing at a glowing magical glyph.

"You _bastard," _he whispered, feeling overpowering rage beginning to seethe through his veins. "Oh, you _bastard…"_

"We'll get him _this _time," Lina said, clenching her fist around her arrow. "Lina won't give up!"

"…………" Celina hissed, holding a hand to her forehead. "Oh, my g—how can he _stand _this?"

"What is it?" Malice asked, looking over to the Magus with a frown.

Celina waved a hand at her impatiently. "The magical pressure in this place is _insane. _The gods' barrier and Ursula's… there's so much power that it feels like… like the air is almost _solid. _It's so stifling—I can't believe Hector can actually bear it so close."

"Are you okay to fight?" Ein asked worriedly.

"I'll be fine—it's just annoying. It's destroying my mage-senses… so I won't be able to tell what Hector is up to down there while we're fighting. We've gotta get this done quick." Celina shifted her grip on her sword. "So is everyone ready?"

_"Been _ready," Malice drawled.

Ein looked between his companions, then nodded and raised Einherjar. "Alright—let's go!"

He charged with a shout, diving into the slope and slashing into the surprised demons before they had a chance to react.

As Ein was swallowed up by the mob of demons, Ecthel's ancient memories started to flash through his mind again. Strangely, though, this time it didn't have that sickening, alien feeling—it felt more this time like déjà vu, and although Ein knew next to nothing about the kind of blitzkrieg battle required of him, he found himself instantly, intimately familiar with the tactics he had to use.

Hyper-aware of his surroundings, Ein turned dodges into strikes, whirling and slashing and alternately sucking in air and giving furious cries. The waves of approaching enemies seemed endless—but demons dropped dead around him almost constantly, and as yet he didn't have a scratch on him.

"With the knowledge of the Magi—_Ether Wave!"_

A crescent of liquid flame screamed past him, incinerating every demon it touched; Celina landed briefly beside Ein before lunging forward again, yelling "Keep pushing ahead!" to him as she sliced into the fleeing demons in front of her.

Ein suddenly became aware of Malice next to him, swinging Skadi in wide arcs that crashed through the wall of demons ahead, sending off sparks of energy with every slice: The Diviner was _raging _as only a Grim Angel's sacred blade could, and beneath her ferocity, Malice seemed almost bewildered at its power output. It made sense; Skadi had been falsely forged, had possessed none of the life that true Diviners did. Even as Malice's own tainted heart cried out at the injustice done to her, so did her holy axe.

Lina, just behind them, wasn't idle either. She was letting loose arrows in fours and fives, firing rapidly into the masses ahead, causing the demons she hit to drop, wailing their pain, dead or incapacitated.

Slowly but surely, the four of them carved their path, wading through the carnage they left behind towards Hector, ready to pass their judgment on him.

As Ein drew closer, he began to see what lay within Hector's circle much more clearly.

The closest guards weren't demons, but angels—all Hector's disciples, clad in his midnight livery with his personal crest emblazoned upon their fine clothes and polished armor. They stood grim and devout, facing their enemies down with swords and spears at the ready, not even seeming to mind that they were about to confront their own people or that they were fighting alongside demons. Within their confines, Hector ignored everything around him, his focus on the glyph in front of him and a figure held in a silvery loop a little further off, still too distant for Ein to see clearly.

And not too far from him, curled miserably within another, smaller glyph and surrounded by a barrier so powerful it could be seen with the naked eye, was…

Ein felt his heart fly into his throat. _"Seth!"_

She looked up, shocked and afraid and maybe even hopeful, and glanced around. Ein was close enough to see it as her gaze settled on him and her eyes filled with tears.

_"EIN!"_

Even though he didn't stop fighting, Ein shivered at the sound of Seth's voice. It was the first time he'd ever heard her speak—and so it was only then that he began to realize that maybe it hadn't just been the shock and horror of surviving rape and torture at Hector's hands that had caused her silence when she'd been around him. Beneath—within?—the sound of her own voice were layered hundreds of others: The voices of the Sprites who'd died to give her life.

Ein knew that if he listened hard enough, he would hear Fia and Cierra and Serene, and shivered again. He didn't want to think about that now.

With a furious yell, Ein hit the angels' ranks, then pushed through into open space, Celina and Malice on either side of him and Lina right behind them.

Seth, inside her barrier, stood and slammed both her fists against the translucent wall of energy that enclosed her, visibly desperate. Instead of one of Ein's shirts, she wore a clinging gold leotard, patterned in green tiger stripes, which actually seemed to belong to her rather than having been donated by some demon or angel in Hector's ranks. She looked strange with her hair down—more like Ursula, but at the same time more like Cierra as well. At least she seemed unhurt this time.

Ein bit his lip, then turned to Malice, who nodded. "We have to go now."

"Okay." He turned to Lina. "It's up to you now, got it?"

"Leave it to me!" the archer cried, readying an arrow to aim at Hector's panicked army.

"And Celina…"

She was already off and running towards Hector, who still had his back to her.

Taking a deep breath, Ein reached out to Malice. The two of them ran hand-in-hand to Seth, trusting in their friends to take care of the rest of the work for now.

---

"HECTOR!"

He turned, looking mildly surprised, as Celina ground to a halt. "Well… I suppose I should have expected you to come here as well, my dear Celina."

Her heart beating wildly, Celina sheathed Ecthel's sword, then stabbed a judicious finger at the dark-robed Magus. "Today's the day you pay for everything you've done, Hector! I've had to put up with you for all these years, but this time you've finally gone too far! It's time to face judgment for your crimes, traitor!"

Hector smirked. "So… you've come here seeking satisfaction, at long last? I would love to finally put an end to your idealistic blather, but unfortunately, I don't have the time to dirty my hands with you right now." Raising his staff, Hector suddenly grew serious. "Guards, to me! Destroy this filth who comes to disrupt our plans, and prevent me from creating my utopia!"

As angels from around the circle ran to stand in front of Hector, brandishing their weapons, Celina scoffed at her former comrade. "Heh. I knew better than to think you would fight fairly. Well, throw your minions at me all you want… because I'm not going to fight fair, either!"

And, so saying, Celina jumped back half a step, raising her hands to the heavens. "For the sake of stopping the one who betrayed you back then… please… _lend me your strength, Nessiah!"_

She touched the cord that slung her weapon across her back, and it unraveled at her silent command, sending the linen that hid it from enemy eyes cascading down into a pile on the ground. Gripping the ancient sword's hilt in both hands, she swung it around, open hate in her eyes as she leveled it at Hector.

"Face the Holy Sword Gran Centurio!"

---

Looking briefly behind him to be sure that Lina was holding her own against the demon horde (she was turning them into pincushions with gusto), Ein finished his sprint to the sealed circle, feeling tears start in his eyes as he reached out and placed both hands on the barrier. "Seth… I'm glad you're alright…"

"…………" Seth spread her palms along the opposite side of the wall in the same spot his were, then leaned her forehead against the solid wall of magic. "I… kNEw yOU wOulD cOME…"

"…He didn't do anything to you, did he?" Malice asked, shooting a brief glare in Hector's direction.

Seth shook her head, reaching out this time to Malice. "…I… I'm sORrY. I… cOUldn'T…"

"Look, just shut up and stop looking pathetic, okay? We don't have the time—we're getting you out of here," Malice told her, her expression almost kind even though her tone was anything but. "Have you tried everything you can think of to get out? What about Longinus?"

Seth drew back at this, closed her eyes, and called the trident she had used on the demons in the forest into being once again. Biting her lip, she first jabbed at, then hit the barrier to no effect, then looked at Ein and Malice helplessly.

"No good… It seems he really must've wanted you to stay contained, then." Malice shook her head. "I suppose we can expect no less out of one of the Magi. Aside from manipulating the fabric of life and combat spells, Hector is renowned for his defensive barriers…"

"What about an attack from both sides at once?" Ein ventured. "If Seth can't do it, I doubt we can do it alone from here, but maybe if there's enough pressure from both sides, it'll break…"

Malice shook her head. "Well, it isn't much of a plan, but I don't think we'll get any better coming from you. Besides, we don't have much time. They might put up a tough front, but Celina and your little friend there can't hold out forever. Not alone, not against these numbers."

"I know." Ein sighed, tightened his grip on Einherjar, and grimaced. "But we've got to do something. We can't let Hector complete the Retribution…"

"We all understand that, drama queen," Malice said insistently, nudging his shoulder. "Let's go—all three of us, at once. I'll count down. Ready?"

Ein nodded, glancing around to be sure no demons had gotten around Lina while the three of them had been talking. A glimmer of silver at the edge of his vision caught his eye, and he turned towards it, suspicious of some new and sinister attack.

"Three—two—hey, _Ein, _stop woolgathering and give a hand! This was _your _idea, remember?! Pitch in a little, why don't you!" Malice snapped, punching him in the shoulder.

Ein didn't reply.

"…wHAt iS IT…?" Seth ventured slowly, shifting her grip on Longinus and turning towards him.

"I… I d-don't believe this…" Ein whispered, shaking his head, pale-faced and trembling. "I thought… I thought she was…!"

_"What _are you talking about? Look, do you want to stop Hector or not? _Ein, _say something!" Malice demanded, grabbing his upper arm and shaking him.

"Look," was all Ein said, pointing.

Malice and Seth did, turning in the direction he'd indicated.

"What in the world…?" Malice wondered aloud. "Is that… a Sprite girl? And she looks… familiar. Wait… you're not saying that she's…!"

"She was alive… alive, all this time, and I…" Ein shook his head slowly. "Gods… I never even knew, I just assumed… Hector had to have killed her…" As Malice watched, a single tear slid down his cheek. "Serene…"

:TBC:


	14. Fatalize

The Tainted

See disclaimer in part 1

There, five or so yards away from where Hector was ordering his personal guards to attack Celina as she cut down line after line of attackers, hung three loops of metal—one a stationary circle suspended a foot or so off the ground, the other two fixed at the middle axis and constantly revolving around it, like some of the magical globes and meters Ein had seen some of the Magi keep during his childhood in Asgard. And hanging within that circle was the unmistakable figure of Serene.

The last of the Arcs was a lithe and athletic girl around Ein's age, with swept-back cobalt-blue hair and eyes of nearly the same color. She had fair skin, a friendly, open face, a crooked smile, and an often-wry sense of humor that had covered her guilt at being the only one of her race to survive the massacre of her people for the sake of collecting souls to resurrect Seth. Her wings—the black gargoyle's wings of her race—were still small, and their span didn't even stretch all the way from fingertip to fingertip if she spread her arms; when Ein had asked, she'd explained that her wings wouldn't reach their full growth for many years yet. She wore dark, clinging clothes beneath her sleeveless white jacket, which displayed a few stains and tears at the moment.

She was unconscious—at least Ein hoped so, and that it wasn't something worse—and hung in the circle with glowing rings tight around each wrist and ankle like bracelets, one around her waist like a belt, and one around her throat as if it were a collar. Connected to each of these were slim, silvery, very corporeal chains that connected to the innermost circle. Even if Serene had been aware, she wouldn't have been able to move.

"Oh, _gods…" _Ein shook his head numbly. "I thought… but why wouldn't Hector have…?"

Malice shrugged helplessly. "I guess… maybe he thought he needed her soul, but he already had enough? I can't think of any other reason he would've kept a prisoner alive for this long."

"We've got to do something. I can't—I can't just _leave _her there…"

"Hold on," Malice said suddenly, grabbing his shoulder to prevent him from running off. "This could be some kind of trick Hector set up just in case we showed up here. You stay put and work on getting Seth out. I'll go investigate. If it's some kind of trap, the two of you will be there to back me up, and if it's not, well…"

Ein's throat clutched. "Malice—if you—don't you do this to me. _Please. _If anything… were to happen to you, on top of everyone else I've lost—"

"Relax," she told him, turning him to look into her eyes. "I've got more sense than that. And the last thing we need is you incapable. If you go, you might attract Hector's attention or give yourself away getting too emotional. He doesn't think I'm a threat, remember? So I can go and save your friend more easily than you could. And, besides… weren't you the one who told me that I had to start making up for the things I've done while I still followed him?"

Ein shook his head numbly. "I… I know. But…" He bit his lip for a moment, then reached out and pulled Malice close to him. "Just… just come back safe, that's all I ask."

"…Don't worry. I won't leave you." Very gently, Malice pushed Ein back. "Now… I'm off. Stay here, keep your head on your shoulders. Think about Seth. She's the one who needs you the most right now."

She took a few steps away, then shot into the sky in a whirl of black wings.

"…………" Ein stared after her for a few moments, closing his eyes in brief prayer.

"…EiN."

"Yeah. Yeah, I know." With a sigh, he turned back towards Seth, raising Einherjar. "Now let's get you out of here, fast."

---

"You haven't had your fill yet?" Hector asked, folding his arms and looking at Celina with an almost quizzical expression. "My goodness. Aren't we a glutton for punishment?"

"Pfft. I think maybe that's what _I _should be asking _you," _Celina retorted, pushing her hair out of her face and pointing the Holy Sword at him.

"Face it—you're tiring. You're breathing with difficulty, you're sweating, and your attacks are getting slower. You won't last," Hector said dismissively. "Guards! Finish her off, so that we may get back to creating our utopia!"

As yet another rank of angels and demons rushed her, Celina shook her head sadly. "Cheap. Sloppy. Shoddy. Then again, what should I expect out of you? You've never been one to bother dirtying your hands with any _real _work, unlike the rest of us. I'm getting sick of your infantile tactics!"

She jumped backwards and raised her sword to the sky.

"O Valkyrie of the Doomed Rebellion… From the depths of despair, sing us to victory!"

Celina curled down to the ground, then flung the Holy Sword into the air. The huge blade rotated end over end in a graceful circle as the clouds split briefly and allowed a single ray of light to hit the magnificent weapon. It glimmered in the sunset's argent reds and golds, then crackled with electricity as it doubled in size. As its arc began to curve back towards the ground, Celina leaped up to catch it, and hung poised in the sky for a moment, her wings straining against the air.

**_"Revolution!"_**

Celina's strike sent a shockwave through the earth, and energy rippled up from around her in waves, instantly killing every guard near her. As their bodies crumpled, Celina whirled around to glare at Hector.

"Taste Nessiah's pain!"

Hector glared at her from beneath the cowl of his robe. "So theatrical."

"I don't care _what _you think of me! I'll never, ever forgive you as long as I live! Never!!"

"…I suppose that this has gone beyond the bounds of what my guards can handle," Hector said. "Very well—let's settle this your way, then." He raised his staff high, holding out his other hand before him. "Come at me!"

---

Malice landed a short distance from the Arc girl Ein had called Serene and looked around, clutching Skadi tightly. Hector didn't seem to have taken any notice—he and Celina were squaring off at long last, with Hector's few remaining guards hovering at the fringes of their battle. Ein's friend Lina seemed to be keeping the demons at bay; she'd said before they'd all arrived that she'd brought some backup weapons for when she ran out of arrows, and as yet she didn't seem to have emptied her seemingly bottomless quiver. Ein and Seth were watching her again—so typical. Irritably, Malice waved a hand at them, and catching the motion, the two of them turned away, apparently conversing.

Shaking her head at the two of them, Malice slowly walked closer to Serene. The Sprite girl was definitely breathing, which was a good sign—though she still wasn't what you could call a Sprite lover, Malice would've hated to tell Ein that it was already too late for his former companion. The device that held her was a magical creation, but the chains that trapped her in it seemed ordinary. If Malice could sever them, maybe she'd be able to wake this girl up so that they'd have an extra hand in dealing with the demons.

Looking the device up and down one more time, Malice raised Skadi and slashed at it experimentally. The chain she'd aimed at snapped cleanly where she'd hit, and Serene's arm dropped to her side, her body sagging in the circle, which groaned in protest.

"Alright, then…" Glaring at the circle, Malice thrust Skadi into its side and twisted, shattering its framework and causing the rotating rings to drop to the ground, throwing off sparks. Shifting her grip on her Diviner, Malice swung it in a wide arc with a yell of exertion, severing every remaining chain that kept Serene hanging stationary. Without support, Serene hit the ground in an unwieldy sprawl, protesting with a mute groan.

Malice knelt down beside her and laid a hand on her shoulder, shaking her. "Hey—are you conscious? Can you hear me?"

"Ugh… huh?" Slowly, the last Arc opened her eyes and pushed herself into a sitting position, rubbing her head. "Owww…"

"Doesn't look like there's any lasting damage… you'll just have to live with it for now, I guess," Malice commented, folding her arms. "Now get up. You haven't got the time to waste."

Finally recognizing Malice's voice, Serene whipped around with a look of mingled disgust and disbelief, then let out a yell and took a swing at the Grim Angel.

Malice caught Serene's fist easily and scowled. "Is that any damn kind of way to treat the person who just saved your sorry ass? I swear, you Sprites are just unbelievable."

"What do you mean, 'saved'?" Serene demanded. "What's going on here? If you think you're gonna get any of our souls, then you're gonna have to go through me first!"

"Oh, boy." Malice rolled her eyes. "You sure are dense. Either that or Hector's kept you unconscious this entire time. I'm not your enemy here—he is. You need to get your ass over there and help Lina so she'll be able to keep the demons away so the rest of us can stop him, you understand?"

"What are you talking about? Since when did _you _turn on Hector?" Serene demanded, slowly standing up. "How long've I been out for? Where's Ein?"

"Look—it's a long story, and there's no time right now, we're in the middle of a battle here," Malice pointed out. Spotting a scythe-wielding demon in the ring of Hector's guards, Malice ran over to him, kicked him in the small of the back, and wrenched his weapon out of his grip, returning to Serene and holding it out to her. "Here. Take this, and get back over to your little archer friend. You've got work to do."

Hesitantly, Serene reached out and accepted the scythe. "This is so messed-up," she said under her breath, shaking her head.

"You're telling me. Just take that damn thing and fight."

The two of them were so caught up in their mutual distrust that neither of them noticed as Hector stretched out a hand in Serene's direction and spoke a whispered spell towards her.

---

"Hey, I'm over _here, _you stupid bastard," Celina yelled, infuriated, and rushed Hector.

He turned back towards her with a smirk and blocked the Gran Centurio with his staff. "Getting a bit hasty, aren't we?"

"Fine thing for _you _to say," Celina retorted, her whole body straining to push her blade through the twisted blue manalith of his staff's pole. "Taking your eyes off your opponent like that!"

Hector shoved her back with a yell, sending Celina in a graceful backwards arc to land with barely so much as a puff of dust to show the force of the impact.

"And _strike!" _Hector called, tracing a rune in the air and holding up his staff. "Strike down the weak with the force of ages!"

As the glyph appeared in the air before him and magical energy rushed towards her, Celina thrust the tip of the Gran Centurio into the earth next to her and held up her arms in an X shape. "Lightning and flame… wreath my body, and dispel all harm. Let the retribution of heat fall upon he who seeks to usurp my judgment… and ashes shall rain from the sky like Brongaa's tears."

Fire roared up in a shell around Celina, with blue and gold sparks pulsing along its length. The shield of energy blunted the burst of Hector's spell, sending little shoots of energy off in all directions, and unraveled into little flickers of flame that haloed Celina's body as she pulled the Gran Centurio up again.

"Brongaa's tears?" Hector repeated, amused. "How poetic. I wasn't aware that dragons cried."

Celina pointed her sword at him, and her eyes smoldered. "My strength is the fury of every heart that ever grieved for Nessiah's fate. You _will _bear the consequences of your actions towards him and everyone else you wronged!"

She flew at him. Hector stepped out of the way in time, but only just. As Celina wrenched her body around and brought the Gran Centurio up again, she saw blood cascading down Hector's face from a cut that reached all the way along his cheekbone.

With a bitter, annoyed-looking smile, Hector palmed the blood away, then touched two fingers to the wound. It closed over almost instantly, weeping only a few more angry drops.

"Why'd you do it, you bastard?!" Celina demanded in a mad snarl. "Nessiah worshipped you, the same way he adored every one of us! He never harmed a single soul in his life! Why the hell did you do that to him, you sick son of a bitch?!"

Hector laughed.

"What in the hell is so funny?!"

"The mind is an amazing thing," Hector replied, wearing a dark and ugly smile. "So many defense mechanisms, so many ways it devises to protect itself. And yet it's so fragile, like the wings of a butterfly. Press just a little too hard in just the right place, and _snap, _it's ruined, never to be rebuilt. A simply _fascinating _process, and a highly satisfactory experiment, even if I _do _say so myself. Cliché as the saying may be, in just two tries your precious little Nessiah's mind collapsed like a house of cards."

"You…" Celina stared at him, disbelieving, vibrating out of sheer hatred. "You sick _bastard…"_

"And it _certainly _wasn't hard convincing him to my way of thinking after that," Hector went on cruelly. "From there on, it was simple. Plant the ideas. Let them stew a while. And then, head to the authorities. I was his confidant, you see. The one he told every one of his plans of genocide to. And I was believed, absolutely. Not even the _gods _suspected. Nessiah was the perfect stepping stone."

"You did this… you did all of this, just to get more power? Are you _insane?" _Celina demanded.

"Quite the contrary. It takes a great deal of rationality to sit and bide my time this long before acting. Something that, I'm afraid, you never seemed to grasp."

"Fuck you," Celina yelled, flared her wings, and charged.

---

Only yards away, the magical bonds around Serene's wrists, ankles, waist, and throat suddenly began to glow, and as the Arc looked at them, puzzled, her body suddenly swung into a coiled ready position, brandishing her newly acquired scythe viciously.

"Uh, I hate to point this out, but the demons are _that _way, dumbass," Malice told her dryly, jerking her thumb over her shoulder.

The cuffs glowed even brighter, and as Serene let out a yelp of surprise, she lunged at Malice with a powerful downward slash.

Malice jerked back out of the way with a yell, flapping her wings to regain her balance. "Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing?! In case you've somehow forgotten in the past minute, I'm on _your _side!"

Serene looked at Malice with a panicky expression. "I'm not doing this! You think I'm dumb enough to jump on you without knowing what's going—whoa!!"

Malice raised Skadi to catch the blow, sending blue-white sparks shooting off in every direction. She'd barely opened her mouth to start yelling again when Serene whipped forward again, hacking at the Diviner's haft over and over again in lightning-fast strikes.

"Damn it…" Malice leaped backwards again and backed away. Serene, dragging her scythe behind her in a one-handed grip no self-respecting scythe-wielder would ever take while on foot, gave chase.

Something was definitely wrong here. From their past fights, Malice knew that Serene was definitely the all-out, gung-ho fighter, but she was not this fast, and she had been _trained—_she took care of her weapons. And she was _definitely _not this strong. Even a fully-grown Arc trying moves like those would wrench muscles or slip up somewhere.

The rings of light, still trailing the ends of the chains that'd trapped Serene before, were glowing brighter than ever, so much so that it was blinding.

_Shit. _Malice felt dread settle into her stomach as she continued her dodge-and-parry routine. _This was definitely a trap, and we just walked straight into it! Unless I do something, I'm gonna lose… but I can't fight back, this is Ein's friend! If I hurt her, he's never going to forgive me… damn it!!_

Because there was nothing more she could do, Malice continued to retreat, her mind racing as she blocked Serene's mad strikes.

One thing was definitely clear.

Celina's nice, neat, insanely dangerous little plan had just gone straight to Hel.

They were all screwed.

:TBC:


	15. Without Reaching Your Heart

The Tainted

See disclaimer in part 1

"Lina won't miss! _Stardust!"_

The young Sprite sent a lightning-charged arrow screaming through the demons ahead of her, then followed it with another and another and another. But when she reached back to her quiver for the three arrows that would conclude her devastating attack, her fingers closed on empty air.

"Ah…"

Lina froze for a moment, then saw the demons beginning to recover and quickly shed the belt that held the wooden canister at her back, swapping it out for the second, smaller one with the deadlier broadheaded arrows. But by the time she'd snapped the new quiver into place, it was too late—she'd lost her momentum and couldn't complete the Stardust technique. Feeling tears rise to her eyes out of frustration, she let out the worst curse she knew and grabbed for a new arrow, sending it straight into the throat of the nearest demon.

Still, this was a bad sign. The quiver she was using now only had about half as many arrows as the one she'd started out with, and that had been _full _when she had started out with Ein and the others. There were still far too many demons for her to let her guard down—way too many for her to fell with the arrows she had left even if every shot she fired was fatal. Soon she'd have to shift to her backup, close-combat arsenal, and when fighting hand-to-hand, Lina tired _very _quickly.

But she couldn't give up. Not now. These demons were fighting for the one who'd taken Fia away.

"Lina won't lose! Lina won't ever lose to you!! _Divine Wind!"_

---

_"Incinerate! _O flame of hatred, cry of vengeance… thou, who swore an eternal oath of protection, hearken through the gates of death to fulfill thy pledge!" Celina raised the Gran Centurio and closed her eyes, placing her free palm on the sword's golden hilt. Pure scarlet fire erupted along the white length of the blade, wreathing the weapon in deadly flames. When she looked back at Hector, her eyes were intense and almost sightless with mad hate. _"Burn to ashes in my hellfire!"_

Hector held up both hands before him. "O shield of ether—"

Before he could even finish, Celina swung the Gran Centurio in a horizontal crescent, and everything within a five-yard radius of their battle erupted in flames. Demons and angels alike screamed as they were trapped in the pyroclasm; Celina came flying through the conflagration to deal Hector a blow impossibly powerful for someone of her size, shattering his half-formed shield and sending him skidding backwards, blood seeping through the front of his robes—just the force of her strike had done him damage without even breaking the skin.

But as Celina streamed past, Hector smirked at her and raised a hand to the sky. "O blade of ancients, lend me thine aid to annihilate your ancient foe… _Dragon Buster."_

Before Celina even had the chance to cry out, the ground erupted beneath her, and a bolt of energy slammed her up into the air, dispelling the flame in Hector's direct vicinity.

The air around the dark-robed Magus blurred, and instantaneously he was hovering in the air above Celina, holding out his hand towards her.

Still in shock, Celina flung up an arm defensively. "Protect—" she croaked breathlessly.

Hector was too fast. _"Break," _he snapped, and then: "Diamond Dust."

Celina was knocked brutally to earth, lying curled and stunned, the Gran Centurio slipping out of her hands and sheathing itself in the ground, hilt up.

As Celina struggled vainly to rise, Hector transported himself back towards her and held his staff above her, giving her a distasteful glare. "Please, don't _delude _yourself into thinking you have the strength to resist. The next time you try to channel the powers of an allied soul, _do _try to choose one without such a glaringly obvious weakness."

Celina gritted her teeth and tried to ignore him, realizing bitterly that the shock of the attack meant to eradicate dragonkind had broken her link to the soul she'd sought out, the one with the strongest bond to Nessiah other than the one he'd shared with her. She'd lost her chance out of carelessness—

Hector slammed the butt of his staff down viciously _through her right wing _in a burst of blood and feathers. The pain shot through Celina's entire body instantly, threatening to shatter her mind, and she cried out in outraged agony, unable to help herself.

As she lay shaking with pain, fear, and hate, Hector wrenched his staff free and looked down at her with a bored sniff. "You're even easier to manipulate than those pathetic Grim Angel tools I got the council to make me. How pathetic."

And off he went. Raising her head slightly, Celina saw that he was heading for the Gran Centurio.

"How ironic must it be to know that I am going to end your life with the very sword you hoped to achieve your vengeance with?" Hector asked her, and reached for the sword's hilt.

Before he could close his fingers, there was an angry burst of electricity from the ancient blade, and Hector drew back, the palm of his hand scorched black.

"What is the _meaning _of this?!"

Celina laughed.

"That sword will… always reject you," she said, forcing the words out. "The Gran Centurio belongs to Nessiah… it always has. He was a master artificer, and that's… his crowning achievement. It's tied to his soul, and… _he _hates you even more than _I _do…"

Hector glared down at her. _"Silence."_

Celina kept laughing, daring him to try it again.

He pointed the head of his staff at her instead. _"Ether Burst."_

The ball of light and energy hit her body, and everything went black.

---

"Serene, _listen to me,"_ Malice yelled above the clang of scythe against Diviner, still blocking and retreating, leading the Arc on a circular chase around their allotted piece of bare ground. "You have got to try to resist whatever spell he put on you! Otherwise, I don't think either of us is gonna make it!"

"Don't you think I've _been _trying?!" Serene retorted.

"Well, try _harder, _damn it!"

Serene let out a yelp as her bonds flashed, sending her swinging her 'borrowed' weapon in a drunken crescent, hooking it beneath Skadi's haft. Malice gritted her teeth, dug in her heels, and exerted all her strength in an effort to keep her Diviner in her hands, even though Serene was pulling the scythe so hard it was a miracle it wasn't shattering.

"You sure are one to talk about _trying," _Serene yelled, panicky. "Why the hell aren't you defending yourself properly?!"

As if to underscore her words, Serene whipped the scythe around to deal Skadi a lightning blow from above, sending a shockwave through Malice's body.

"Nngh…"

Gritting her teeth bitterly, Malice kept hold of her weapon.

_I can't. I can't fight back. I'm sure I could overpower her if I tried, but if I did…_

Serene wheeled around a third time, and the force of the third blow was enough to jolt Skadi out of Malice's hands, sending the Diviner flying end over end to land a few yards away. Although the blade of the scythe cracked in two with the force of the strike, Serene still swung the pole around like a staff to hit Malice hard just below her ribs, knocking all the air out of her lungs. As Malice gasped and crumpled, curling her wings inward in pain and splaying her feet wide so she wouldn't fall over, she heard air whistling and knew that Serene was still swinging her scythe-now-staff through the air in preparation for another attack.

Cursing to herself, Malice forced her mind to go blank in anticipation of the blow. With the sudden rush of wind, Malice lurched to one side and reached out with both hands, feeling the twisted pole smack her palms solidly.

_"Yah!" _Heaving with all her strength, Malice tore the weapon from Serene's hands and flung it as far away as she could.

Serene surged forward and slammed her knee into Malice's chest, sending the Grim Angel slumping forward with a pained yell.

_Damn it—Skadi, I need to get Skadi! I can't force her off without it—_

Then Serene's hands closed around her throat.

"Ah—ghkk—what the hell d'you—think you're—" Malice demanded weakly, trying to pry Serene's fingers loose.

"I can't—let—nngh—" Serene was clearly struggling, but even so, her hands didn't budge an inch.

_Damn it… damn it… I can't breathe… but I have to do something, or…!_

_Ein…_

---

**"Disaresta!"**

_"Harmonium!"_

Einherjar and Longinus clashed in a brilliant dance of light and power, sending ripples through Hector's barrier and opening a fist-sized hole in the fabric of the magic. Within seconds, it closed over entirely, leaving Ein and Seth frustrated, sweaty, and panting with exertion.

"Gggh, it's just no good! The two of us aren't strong enough to break it on our own!" Ein slammed his fist into the barrier, infuriated, then winced back. "We could do it if Malice was here, but…" He shook his head. "What in the world is taking her so…?"

Ein turned towards where he knew Malice was trying to rescue Serene, and paled.

"Oh, no. Oh, _gods, _no…"

"WhAT iS sHE… WhY iSn't sHe aTTaCkInG?" Seth wondered aloud, shaking her head.

"Damn it…" Ein watched the desperate struggle unfold, suddenly realizing. "She's afraid of hurting Serene, so she won't even defend herself… and I don't know why Serene is doing this, but unless someone does something, Malice will…"

"…Go," Seth said suddenly, interrupting him.

"What?"

"I sAID… yOU hAvE tO gO," Seth repeated firmly, placing her hand on the barrier, her eyes glittering with some deep emotion Ein couldn't discern. "MaLICE nEEdS yOu… YoU cAN't jUST aBanDOn hER nOW, nOT AFteR eVEryTHIng. HuRRY aND sAVe hER…"

"Seth…" Ein bowed his head, clutched Einherjar, and dashed off. "Forgive me! I'll come back for you, I swear it!"

As he approached, Serene turned towards him and stared out of wide, bewildered eyes. "Ein!"

"Let go of her, Serene!" Ein yelled, and shoulder-tackled his old friend away. Malice fell to her knees, clutching her throat and gasping.

To Ein's shock, Serene rushed _him _instead.

"What are you doing?! What's going on?" Ein yelled, ducking her punch and grabbing hold of her to keep her still.

"It's those bonds…" Malice said with a cough, painfully straightening up. "Hector's… controlling her through them."

"Okay. Then…" Ein looked around. "Malice, can you hold her still? I'm gonna try to break them!"

Passing Serene to Malice, Ein bit his lip and raised Einherjar. "Try to hold up her arm. I'll be as careful as I can, Serene… sorry about this…"

And he swung with a yell, hitting the glowing bracelet-like circle on Serene's wrist cleanly. To his surprise, it cracked immediately and fell to the ground, smoking, in pieces. Looking amazed, Serene held up her arm and shook it out, though the rest of her continued to struggle. "Ein—it worked!"

He sighed. "Thank the gods. Malice…"

"I've got it," she said, and twisted Serene around so that Ein could hit the one on her other wrist. With both her arms freed, Serene turned her own attention to the circle of power around her neck, while Ein progressed to the ones on her waist and ankles.

Moments after Ein straightened up, Serene let out a yell of exertion and snapped the last of the braces. Malice instantly let go of her and went off to retrieve her Diviner.

"Are you okay?" Ein asked, looking Serene over worriedly.

"Yeah. My head's killing me and I'm pissed that someone like that bastard over there could control me, but… I'm fine." Serene jerked her thumb at Malice. "So she's actually _really and truly _on our side now? When did that happen?"

"To make a long story very short, Malice got kicked out by Hector and reassessed her priorities," Ein said with a sigh. "Yes, she's really on our side. Are _you _okay?" he suddenly called, turning to Malice.

"I'll be sore, but I've been through worse," she said darkly, giving Skadi an experimental swing.

"Good, good." Ein scratched his head. "We'd better get back to Seth, and Serene can get a scythe or something to go help Lina—"

"Guys! Guys!!" It was Lina's voice. All of them turned, surprised, to see the little archer running up to them, wide-eyed, her hands still slipped into clawed braces. "The demons just suddenly stopped attacking and started backing off! Lina didn't even do anything! What's going on?"

Before anyone could think of a reply, there was a brilliant flash of light, and then a piercing scream split the air.

Ein whirled, his heart racing, to see that Hector's barrier had been torn down, and Seth was on her knees, wrapped in bloodred chains, with the traitorous Magus standing right behind her, the tails of the chains trailing from his fist.

_He can't be—where's Celina?! She would never—_

And then Ein saw her lying in a bloody, crumpled heap only a few yards away at the center of a wide circle of scorched ground, the Gran Centurio stuck in the upturned earth next to her.

_No—_

"Your power is _MINE!"_ Hector yelled triumphantly.

Seth screamed again.

And then the entire battlefield erupted in white light.

:TBC:


	16. Decision

The Tainted

See disclaimer in part 1

Just seconds after everything went white and Ein felt an unbearable heat envelop his body, power flared up in a circle around him, and he was able to open his eyes slightly to see Ursula standing before them with her arms outstretched.

Once the power dissipated, Ursula's shield flickered and died, and as Ein stared, unbelieving, Riviera's guardian since Ragnarok collapsed, drained.

"Ursula!" Ein ran to her as the girls stood watching, kneeling down next to her. "Ursula, what's wrong?! What happened to you?!"

Ursula raised her head to look at him through half-closed eyes glazed with exhaustion, and weakly raised one arm to point. "Look…"

Ein turned in the direction she'd indicated, and felt his blood turn to ice.

There, where only moments ago Hector and Seth had been, stood a twisted and yet awe-inspiring creature with an aura of power so fierce, it felt as though it could melt away anything that sought to challenge it. Its stature was slender but strong, with deep black skin and red stripes that wove jagged patterns across its body. It was naked, but Ein could see no evidence of gender whatsoever on its form. A white ruff of fur fell across its shoulders and trailed down its back, and it had a long cascade of deep scarlet hair.

Its wings were interwoven crosses of bone.

In its hand, it held Seth's sacred spear, Longinus.

And despite its fearsome aura, Ein picked up traces of a familiar presence within it.

"Hector?!" he said aloud, paling.

The thing turned towards him with a cold smile on its face. "HECTOR NO LONGER EXISTS. I AM SETH-RAH… I AM THE NEW BEGINNING. I SHALL TAKE THE POWER THAT HAS ALWAYS BEEN MY RIGHT… AND RETURN THIS WORLD TO THE DUST FROM WHENCE IT CAME!"

With that, Hector—Seth-Rah, it had said—turned away, and pointed Longinus' prongs at the center of the magical glyph it stood upon.

"Ursula, what does that thing mean?" Serene demanded. "Is Hector… has he become a god, or something?"

"No…" Ursula shook her head laboriously. "But the Retribution has begun, and if Seth-Rah is allowed to progress, it will obtain divinity… and all lands, from Riviera to Midgard to Asgard, will be doomed."

"Ledah told me that the Retribution lay within Yggdrasil…" Ein said, looking between Ursula and Seth-Rah. "So… if that was true, then…?"

"Ein, you still don't get it?" Malice asked him. "The gods knew that the Retribution might one day become a necessity, but they were shrewd. The Magi were meant to be their proxies, nothing more, so even they might become covetous, or be unable to prevent the actions of some other mortal's greed. So the gods sealed their power and their bodies within Utgard after it became Riviera, after the great separation when all the Sprites were brought here to live instead of on Midgard. Ursula was bound to Yggdrasil, the root of the World Tree in this land, in order to prevent anyone from trying to actuate the Retribution, no matter what their reason happened to be. The protections on this land are unbelievably strong, and so to weaken them, someone intending to actuate the Retribution would have to journey to Riviera, weaken Yggdrasil and break the first manalith seal there, then either combat Ursula directly or use Seth's power to get through her protection so that the final seal here could be broken."

"By becoming one with Seth… Hector has become a demigod, powerful enough to break this seal and absorb the powers of the gods without being destroyed," Ursula explained. "Once he has taken that power, the Retribution will be beyond anyone's power to stop, and everything will be eradicated and remade according to the will of the new god. Seth and I were once one, and so our power has always been balanced, but… as Seth-Rah grows more and more powerful, my strength wanes. I don't have the power to help you anymore."

"But if this Seth-Rah thing is really a demigod, there's nothing we can do, is there?" Serene demanded. "I mean… we're just Sprites. We don't have that kind of power!"

"But… Ein and I do," Malice said suddenly.

"Wait… _what?" _Ein turned to her. "What are you talking about?"

"Because that's what a Grim Angel _is," _she told them, her grip on Skadi tightening. "A being that violates heavenly creed… a mortal creature with the power of a god."

"Are you serious?" Lina stared at them. "Lina had no idea!"

"That's why we have to fight," Malice continued. "Ein and I have no other choice. It's what we were born to do."

"But…" Ein turned back to Seth-Rah, anxious. "If we destroy Hector… what's going to happen to Seth after that…?"

It was Ursula who answered. "At that time… Seth and I will both disappear from this world forever."

- - -

_ It was dark. Dark and cold. _

Shit… _Celina thought dizzily, acutely aware of the fact that her life force was like a soaked candle—flame was still struggling to cling to the wick, but in only a matter of minutes, it would flicker out. _

I messed up… I let Hector get to me, and now…

_ "Damn it…" she said aloud, her voice vanishing into the black haze that surrounded her. _

_ "—ina!" _

_ A familiar voice echoed to her. _

_ "Celina!" _

_ Someone was calling her. _

_ "CELINA!!" _

_ She knew that voice. And she also knew that it wasn't possible that she was actually hearing it. She had to be asleep, delirious, or already dead. _

_ "Celina, hold on!" _

_ Footsteps were ringing through the darkness now, along with the voice. Footsteps—and also the solid jangle of metal on metal. _

_ Chains. _

This is impossible, _Celina thought to herself, confused. _It couldn't be…

_ "Celina!!" _

_ A warm presence drew close to her, vivid and vibrant with life, with emotion. There was another jangle after the footsteps stopped, and she felt small hands on her back. _

_ She struggled to turn, to see for herself. "Ness… is that… you…?" _

_ "Celina, you can't!!" He clung to her fiercely, desperately. "You can't just give in! You can't die! Not like this! Not now…! Please!! You've got to keep fighting! You can't do this to me, Celina…!" _

_ He was crying. Celina wanted so badly to reach out and stay his tears, but she couldn't even do that. "Ness…" _

_ "Celina, please…" His voice shook as he begged her, and his tears fell against her face, warm little droplets of life. "You can do it! You can still fight, you can still turn things around! Don't let him win!" _

_ "I'm sorry, Ness… I'm so sorry," Celina whispered. "I don't think… I don't think I've got it in me now…" _

_ "No! Don't say that!" _

_ "Ness, I can't even move. I tried. I tried so hard, but… I messed up. I'm sorry. Even with your sword, I couldn't… I couldn't keep my head when he said those things about you. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." _

_ "Celina, _no!" _he insisted. "That bastard… it was his fault. Everything's been his fault! You, me, everyone else you're fighting for… those kids out there… Celina, they need you! Please…" _

_ "Ness… be reasonable. I couldn't see, couldn't move, but… that last blast of energy… I'm sure my body… well…" _

_ "What do you take me for?" he asked, incredulous, sounding almost like his old self for a moment. "Celina—you have the Gran Centurio. You have _me. _Because of that sword, you and I are connected right now. I knew you were in danger. The Gran Centurio created a shield to protect you." _

_ "Still… that doesn't do much good, honey," she explained gently. "Even if I am physically still alive for now, I used up all my power. I don't have the strength left to fight right now." _

_ Nessiah was silent. "Celina…" Through her exhausted paralysis, she felt him hold her a little tighter. _

_ Then the two of them were joined by a third presence. _

_ "If you don't have any power left, you can use mine." _

- - -

"No," Ein burst out, clenching his fists. "You don't really expect me to…?"

"So you think Seth _wants _to live like this?" Malice retorted. "That _thing _she's fused with, that she's part of? Remember, that guy's the one who broke her seal and brought her back just to torture her before forcing her to half-die like this! You think she _wants _to go on, chained body and soul to the monster that used to beat her up and rape her every night? Where the hell did you leave your brain, and your sense of empathy? Ein!"

"But—" Ein shook his head. "I can't! I can't knowingly—when Seth is in there, too—and that means that, that I'd be killing all the Sprites who died to break her seal all over again! Fia and Cierra, and all the others… I could never…! There isn't any meaning in dying!! As long as you're still alive, things can change! Things can…!"

He fell silent as Malice gave him a disgusted look, standing with her hair and her dress tossed by the whirlwind of power Seth-Rah was tearing through, her onyx eyes cold. "I should've known you wouldn't have the stomach to stand up and do what has to be done in the end," she said bitterly. "Fine then, I'll just fight without you!"

And she turned to Serene and Lina.

"You two—you'll back me up, won't you?" Malice demanded.

"Of course!" Lina exclaimed staunchly. "For Fia… Lina's not gonna give up!"

"Hey, squirt, have you got any other weapons on you?" Serene asked. "That blast took out all the demons, and most of the trees too. I can't fight unless I've got something to fight _with!"_

"Sure!" With a laugh, Lina held out a scythe that had been strapped to her back along with her two quivers and her claws when she'd started out here. "Okay, everybody, let's go!"

"Hector or Seth-Rah, whatever you're calling yourself now…" Malice yelled, raising Skadi to the torn skies. "We won't let you get any closer to what you're trying to do!"

As Seth-Rah turned with an amused smirk, Malice, Serene, and Lina charged.

_How…? _Ein wondered, hanging his head. _How can they keep moving forward when they know…? _

- - -

"How does _anyone_ keep moving forward into the future, when what lies ahead seems like it won't be a welcome thing?" Cierra asked, laying a hand on Ein's shoulder.

"Cierra…"

"Because everyone _believes _in their power to change things, even if they can only change what's around them. That's what _you _taught _me," _she said with a smile.

"But, Cierra… I couldn't save you. In the end, I couldn't save anyone… not Rose, or Seth, or you or Fia, or Ledah… not anybody…" Ein shook his head. "I'm not fit to change the future. Especially not when it's a future that can only be won by the sacrifice of the people who counted on me…"

"Oh, Ein…" Cierra just shook her head and turned back to tidying up the books on the guild shelf. "You say that now, but… I know that the man whose heart was so strong that it made even Malice believe in the future she's fighting for again… is still inside you. You've grown up so quickly, Ein. The future is just ahead of you, so don't hesitate. Step forward, and take it… don't dwell on your regrets. They're all fighting for the same thing. So did I, even though my battle is over."

"Cierra…"

"So, go on. It's okay."

- - -

_ Is it really? _Ein wondered. _Is it really okay for me to move forward if it's only going to cost more lives…?_

"PITIFUL CREATURES," Seth-Rah said with a smirk. "YOU WILL NEVER HAVE THE POWER TO RESIST ME."

"Well, we'll just see about that," Malice retorted, swinging Skadi forward to slam it into Longinus, with Serene and Lina running to join her.

Seth-Rah swung Longinus around, but Malice wasn't there. She'd flipped backwards, and was now crouched and ready to spring on the pole of Serene's scythe, with Serene and Lina holding it steady.

"I'm doing this for Riviera, not you," Serene snapped. "Don't get used to it!"

"Believe me, I know that as well as you," Malice retorted.

"Not now, you guys!" Lina reprimanded. "Get ready!"

"Okay—_heave!"_

Serene and Lina boosted the scythe up in one wild shove, catapulting Malice high into the air. The Grim Angel pulled her wings in close to her body and flared them out from the joints, bulleting down towards Seth-Rah with power gathering along Skadi all the while.

_"Feel the weight of your sins—**Blue Sophia!!"**_

Axe met spear in a wild clash of energy, opening a few stray cuts along Seth-Rah's face and arms although it bore the brunt of the powerful attack with Seth's weapon.

"Just _die, _damn you!" Malice howled.

Seth-Rah smirked and shoved. Malice did a graceful backflip and landed squarely only a few yards away, sweeping Skadi back before running forward again to begin another assault.

"Malice…" Ein whispered, watching her with hope and despair wrestling in his heart.

- - -

"What's wrong, Ein?" Fia asked, smiling at him as she folded her apron over the laundry line.

"It's just… I can't help but wonder if she really can do it," he confessed. "If Malice… really has the strength to push on all by herself."

"Are you worried about her?" Fia questioned, boosting the basket of wet laundry against her hip.

"Well… of course," Ein said, confused. "I mean… I mean, she's my friend. So…"

"But even though you're personally conflicted about the battle ahead… you still hope that Malice can do it, right?"

"Yeah… but…"

"You gave Malice something to believe in again, something to fight for," Fia told him. "She's out there for you, struggling so she won't have any regrets. If you can't have faith in that, then the only thing you can do is go and help her."

"Do you have any regrets, Fia?" Ein asked her in a low voice. "I mean… because of the way you died, because of what you couldn't do before then…"

"Only one." Fia smiled and looked up to the sky as the clouds parted, sending golden sunlight spilling over her face. "But I've come to terms with it, so everything's just fine. You're a special person, Ein. So once you've decided on your path… you need to think, what kind of future will you and Malice make, so that _you_ won't have any regrets?"

- - -

_A future without regrets… is that even possible? _

"Well, try this on for size! _Serene Absolute!"_

The Arc swirled her scythe around, clashing it with Longinus and sending shards of ice flying through the air. Though Seth-Rah blocked most of her strikes, Serene lunged and shifted with a yell, forcing her scythe through the demigod's guard and finally connecting.

However, when the storm of ice cleared, Seth-Rah just smirked down at her.

"IS THAT ALL? PATHETIC SPRITES… I SHALL DESTROY YOU!"

"What?! Why the hell isn't it working?! I know I hit you…!"

"Serene, let's get out of here!" Lina grabbed the Arc by the arm and pulled her out of the way of Seth-Rah's strike, returning to Malice's side.

"No good… it looks like only a Grim Angel has got the power to touch this thing," Malice mused aloud. "Damn it… well, there's no point in not trying!"

"SO YOU THINK YOU STAND A CHANCE?" Seth-Rah demanded, laughing. "COME THEN, AND BE DEFEATED! YOUR CORPSES SHALL BE THE FIRST MARKS OF MY NEW AGE, THE CORNERSTONE OF MY TRIUMPH! LITTLE BRATS WITH YOUR LITTLE TOYS… COME NOW, AND DIE!"

"Oh, just shut up!" Malice yelled. "We're getting sick of hearing this shit out of you!"

"Come on, let's try again!" Lina cried, grabbing hold of Serene's scythe. "Boost!"

The two of them sent Malice flying again. Seth-Rah laughed and pulled up Longinus to meet her; Serene and Lina looked to each other and nodded, and rushed the beast, slamming scythe and claws into its unprotected sides before it could do anything.

"INSOLENCE… DISAPPEAR!"

With one swipe of Longinus, Seth-Rah sent the two Sprite girls tumbling, just as Malice crashed down with another shot of her Blue Sophia attack. As Seth-Rah growled, she ran out of the way, rejoining her companions.

"Somehow I don't think that's gonna work a second time, but… good job."

Ein bit his lip and squinted, seeing black blood run down Seth-Rah's shoulder and a few pitiful scratch marks on its body where Serene and Lina had attacked it.

_How long can they keep this up…?_

- - -

"(So, Ein. What are you fussing about this time?)" Rose wanted to know, giving her master a piercing stare. The two of them were walking along the fence that surrounded Elendia; Ein on the path beside it, Rose along the wooden posts themselves.

"I just… Malice and Serene and Lina. They're trying so hard, but… I don't think they can actually do it. Seth-Rah is too strong, and I…"

"(So what are you doing still here?)" Rose demanded. "(Sheesh. You really are pathetic, you know that? To think I would actually have to tell you to go fight…)"

"But, Rose… I'm no good. I'm just no good at this. Even if I fight… even if I'm there… I may not be able to save them. Things are going to happen that can't be undone. And I… I'll be killing Seth and Fia and Cierra, either way. I just…"

"(Yeah, and?)" Rose glared at him. "(You're a Grim Angel, born to fight in the name of the gods' will. Well, what do you think they're willing for now? You have a job to do, and you have to live to be able to make those things happen. Why do you think I decided to give up my life for you? It's because you have the power to change things. You're the only one who can, and you have to go do it.)"

"Back then… you were the one who saved me, Rose. That was the only reason I didn't end up like Lina, or worse. You threw yourself in between me and Hector… I remember now. You sacrificed yourself to save me."

"(Oh, boy.)" Rose stopped walking and sat down, puffing out her wings. "(Poor little you. You and your ideals meant so much to everyone around you that they were willing to die to keep those things alive. Whatever _are _you going to do now?)"

- - -

_What… _am _I going to do now…?_

And as Ein let that thought echo in his mind, watching his friends struggle against Seth-Rah's oppressive power, the voice he'd sealed deepest in his heart answered him.

_Ein._

- - -

"Ein, what are you doing?"

Ein blinked and faced his oldest friend, bewildered. "Ledah."

"Are you just going to let them fight alone?"

"But… I…"

"Guilt is not reason enough for you to stand idly by and watch this world come to ruin," Ledah told him, whirling in a blur of black wings and deep scarlet robes to pace before Ein, all the while favoring him with a piercing stare. "You are a Grim Angel. Your duty is clear."

"But… I don't have the right," Ein protested feebly. "Not when everyone…"

"Malice understands better than you do," Ledah interrupted, coming to a halt and striding towards Ein, halting half a foot away and making the younger angel look up at him. "She is a sinner, Ein. She was Hector's instrument of conquest, something he owned, and even when she broke away from his control, she was as torn by indecision as you are now. But her focus is now clear. Ein. Malice was the one who took our lives from us, and because of that, she's the one who's fighting to keep our hopes and wishes alive."

"Ledah…"

"Ein, listen to me. Sadness may be the price to bring all this to an end. Fia, Cierra, Rose, and I all made our choice, and we knew the ramifications of that choice when we made it. Choosing to die for the one we love created sadness, but it gave you the chance and the opportunity to continue moving forward. Because you are alive, that is the only path open to you."

Ein was silent.

"If not for us… then do it for Malice," Ledah supplied. "We loved you enough to die for you. Malice… has chosen to _live_ for you."

"Ledah…"

"Enough of doubting yourself. Silence your mind. Right now, you need not think. Only feel. That heart, which has always been too strong to be bound or swayed by any cause other than the true path of justice… what does your heart tell you?"

Ein closed his eyes and listened. And out of the ages, the voice of the man he'd been a thousand and seventeen years ago answered.

"…I'll go."

When Ein opened his eyes, Ledah was smiling at him.

The older angel leaned in so that his lips brushed Ein's forehead, and when he spoke, he spoke in Fia, Cierra, and Rose's voices as well as his own.

"So be it. May the gods bless you on your path, Ein."

- - -

_That's right… Malice is waiting for me._

Ein clutched Einherjar's hilt and began to run.

Seth-Rah turned and spotted him, its eyes flashing with hatred. "YOU… I WILL NOT LET YOU INTERFERE!!"

As Malice, Serene, and Lina turned, surprised, Seth-Rah raised Longinus into the air and spun it. "DEATH SHALL PURIFY YOUR SOUL!"

Malice whirled around to see the power gathering, and ran towards Ein. "No, you idiot! Get out of the way, or…!"

"ARMAGEDDON!"

There was the shock of collision as Malice blocked Ein from moving forward, and then the rush of light and sound as the air tore with the force of Seth-Rah's attack.

And then an absence of pain, and a well of confusion.

And then, Malice's weak gasp as she slid to the barren ground.

:TBC:


	17. Ballet Mechanica

The Tainted

See disclaimer in part 1

"Malice…? MALICE?!"

No reply.

Ein felt a sudden weight settle over his chest, choking him with hysteria. He shook her shoulder and tried not to see how she rolled limply as he did. _"Malice!!"_

Nothing.

"Malice… _no…"_

Grief and panic compounded swiftly into rage as tears stung Ein's eyes. It wasn't fair. It wasn't _right. _Just instants ago, she'd been warm and alive and breathing, and now… cold, white, still, without even a mark on her.

If Ein couldn't even save her… couldn't even save the one he… he'd… when she was right in front of him, then…

He turned hateful eyes on Seth-Rah, Einherjar glowing hotly in his hands.

_"I'll never forgive you!!"_

---

_"If you don't have any power left, you can use mine."_

_Celina didn't know that voice, but… the presence she felt along with it was familiar._

_"…!" Nessiah straightened up, still holding Celina close. "You came for us…! But… why, even now…?"_

_"Well…" There was a smile in the reply. "For one thing, people who use dragon-slaying weapons and magic piss me off. It's cheap, and it's stupid, and those things _hurt."

Celina broke in, finally recognizing the aura she was sensing. "You… it's you! You're the one who answered my call to fight Hector before…" The one who'd had a strong connection to Nessiah and a sharp desire for vengeance: the soul of a young man—boy, really; he couldn't have been much older than nineteen or twenty—with power far beyond what an ordinary human could possibly possess.

_"That's right." He was smiling still as he answered her, but his voice was fierce. "And, Nessiah… this is important to you. There's a battle to be fought with someone you hate, and the one fighting it is someone you love. We promised each other a long time ago that we'd be there for each other when we needed someone most… I swore to fight for you, to protect you, no matter what it took. Well—you held up your part of the bargain… you helped me fight my battle for as long as you could. Now it's my turn."_

_"…………" Nessiah held Celina a little closer. "But I… I wasn't there to save you. Not when it mattered."_

_"I couldn't save you either. For all the strength that's in my blood, nothing I could do was enough to free you from your fate. It doesn't _matter. _Let it go. You're my friend, and this is what friends do."_

_"But…" Celina shivered. "You're… a soul awaiting reincarnation, that much I know. To voluntarily integrate with me, to lend me _all _your strength instead of just part of it… it's going to set you all the way back, and it's going to take you that much longer until you live again. You're… sure you want to do that?"_

_"I don't care. I never even tried going down that road… because I wanted to wait for some reason, and stay myself while I did. I was Nessiah's friend when I lived. Even if by doing this, I could _never _go back… I wouldn't care; I'd still do it. I have a promise to keep. And those who belittle Brongaa's bloodline must be punished."_

_"Okay." Celina fought exhaustion and reached out into the darkness. She felt her fingers brush the rough, thick padding on the palm of a skillfully crafted gauntlet, then felt the strong hand she touched close around her own._

_"Please take from me… all of me," the man said. "For Nessiah's sake…"_

_"Give me the strength to fight," Celina finished._

_Fire surged through her blood, power churning along behind it. Sensation rolled through her body in a brief spasm of pins and needles, and she shifted restlessly in Nessiah's arms._

_He stood, and pulled her to her feet. She caught the impression of him briefly through the darkness—somewhat more frail than she remembered him, the pluck and innocence she'd so loved replaced with desperation. Waiting in solitude, in a world where he no longer belonged, was taking its toll on his spirit, and his mind._

At this rate he won't make it until the gods return, _Celina realized, feeling cold. _…There has to be something I can do.

"Please… please be careful out there," Nessiah said softly. "If… if anything happens to you…" 

_"We won't screw up this time," Celina promised him._

_Nessiah clung to her; she held him tightly, almost unwilling to let go._

_"I love you," he whispered, his voice shaking. "Both of you."_

_"I love you, too," Celina replied. _"We _love you. Please… hang in there just a little longer."_

_Slowly, reluctantly pulling back, they stood in the darkness, tightly clutching each other's hands._

_When they let go, the darkness and the half-dream shattered almost as though they'd never been._

_But dragonfire was still surging through Celina's veins._

_She opened her eyes._

---

Far away, in the distant corners of the heavenly plane, two dark-robed men stood some space apart from the angelic refugees they had led all the way here over the past days and weeks.

"I can feel the flow of power in Riviera changing, even from here," one of them said suddenly, causing the other to turn and stare at him. "…It may be that the Retribution is being actuated."

"If it's as Celina suspects, and Hector truly has gone rogue… this could be the end of all of us."

"But if she's there—if the Grim Angels really did come back like she said they would—you know she would do everything in her power to stop it. They all will. They'll protect us, protect Asgard, in the name of the gods. Don't despair yet, Ashcroft. Believe in her a little."

"I _do," _Ashcroft replied. "I know that if she has any say over the matter at all, she'll do everything in her power not to let us down. Besides, you and I both know it—she'd rather die than let that threat reach Asgard, because if it's destroyed… if anything happens to _his _body…"

"His soul will be irreversibly damaged, and disappear from this world, as though it had never been in the first place," his fellow finished. "She'd never let that happen."

"…I know. I just… don't know how well she'll be able to handle confronting Hector, or demons, or whoever is actually behind this."

A pause. "…Ashcroft, are you jealous?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Are you jealous of Nessiah? Sometimes, the way you act… really makes me think you might be."

Ashcroft was silent for a moment. "…No. I'm not. I've already accepted… that this is the way things are. If Hector is the only one Celina's ever hated, then… Nessiah is the only one she's ever really loved. The only one she ever really gave her heart to, in its entirety. Compared to what she feels about him… her relationship with me, and with you, is so shallow, Samael."

"…I think you're underestimating her," Samael replied frankly. "With so many lives on the line… sure, maybe her old grudge against Hector is taking precedence right now, but she's fighting for all of Asgard. And she's got our new Grim Angels on her side. Together, they can overcome anything."

"…For the sake of all of us, I hope that you're right."

"My sister is strong," was all Samael said. "And if Ein is even half as powerful as we were hoping when he was born, if she falters, he'll see it through. I have to believe that."

---

_"I'll kill you!"_

Ein hit Seth-Rah in a wild rush, knocking the bestial demigod back, though it raised Longinus to deflect the main force of the blow.

_"You bastard, I'll kill you!"_

Overcome with sightless, anguished fury and hate, Ein drew his Diviner back and thrust forward hard, driving its edge along the demigod's flank and drawing a low line of blood. With a snarl, Seth-Rah smacked him aside with Longinus. Pain flowered all along Ein's back and side where he'd been hit, but he ignored it, got up, and rushed Seth-Rah again.

"INSIGNIFICANT INSECT…! PERISH!"

But just as Seth-Rah was about to stab forward with its spear, it flinched back with a strangled sound of shock, shaking its head. Seizing his chance, Ein slashed; Seth-Rah dodged the blow, but awkwardly.

"WHAT IS… THIS INSOLENCE?! WHO DARES DEFY THE WILL OF THE GODS…?"

A weak burst of power echoed from the demigod's body, exuding an aura that Ein recognized.

"Seth…" Somehow, she was fighting back from the inside, trying to give Ein an opportunity. For a moment, his will faltered as he wondered briefly if it was really right to continue attacking if it meant Seth would also lose her life, but his indecision evaporated as Seth-Rah turned back towards him with murder in its blood-colored eyes. No. He couldn't hesitate any more. It wasn't fair to Seth to leave her like this—and besides, this _thing _had—had killed Malice…

"You bastard, how _dare _you use my friends like this…!"

He sliced again, but Seth-Rah blocked him and pushed him back, raising Longinus high above its head. "FROM DUST TO DARKNESS…"

Ein tensed up, pulling Einherjar into a ready position at his side and gathering all the power he could muster. "This is the will of the gods…"

Seth-Rah heaved its weapon forward. "RAGNAROK!"

As dark power rushed at him, Ein didn't try to block or evade the strike, but ran forward, wheeling Einherjar twice in the air at his side and leaping forward to slice the stream of energy in two. _"Disaresta!"_

Ein's Diviner halted a few inches from Longinus' haft, repelled by the dark energy still streaming from the spearhead. He gritted his teeth and continued to try to force forward, his muscles shaking as holy light played off Einherjar's blade.

"YOU CAN'T DO IT," Seth-Rah gloated, a little breathless but still sure of itself. "YOU DON'T HAVE THE POWER ON YOUR OWN."

"Well, we'll see about that," Ein yelled, frustrated, trying to stifle every lingering doubt. If he even had the slightest moment of disbelief, his power might very well fail him. He couldn't lose. For Malice's sake, he _could not _lose.

"Go, Ein!!" Serene yelled from where she and Lina stood watching, unable to help yet unwilling to abandon the battlefield. "Come on, you can beat that thing! Just hang in there a little longer!"

Instead of calling out encouragement, Lina suddenly let out a shocked yelp. "Serene—Ein—_look! _Look over there!"

Ein spared a brief glance towards where Lina was pointing, thinking only to clear his mind of distractions—and _stared, _unable to help himself.

Celina was _standing._

---

The sheer sense of power running through Celina's body was so _exhilarating._

Even in her glory days, fighting as the gods' general in Ragnarok at the very peak of her power, she'd never felt like this before, never had the pure strength of dragon's blood added to her own impressive inner store of mana. This amount of sheer energy coursing through her blood was so intense that it was almost too much for even her angelic form—she had to wonder if the half-human man who'd originally possessed this strength had eventually wound up overwhelmed by the ancient legacy he'd carried inside him.

She opened her eyes and found the world cast over in a slight gold tint, felt mana bubble through her very skin to form a halo of fire around her body, and gloried in it for a moment.

Ein was fighting the beast that Hector had become, their power equal, their battle at a stalemate.

Hate—her hate, and the hate borne by her aligned soul—flared within her, a flash of violent red behind her eyes. With Ein's help, she would end it now; end this despicable cycle forever.

For Nessiah's sake.

His memories, and the memories of the infamous Dragon of Purgatory within them, surfaced in her heart, letting her know what she should do.

"From the abyss, the dragon awakens…"

She seized the hilt of the Gran Centurio and pulled it one-handed from the earth, holding it before her and slowly running her palm along the flat of the blade, feeling her mana spill into it and watching her own fiery aura extend to the sword as well.

"O ancient wyrm, enshrouded in a blazing aura…"

Hefting the huge weapon up, she spread her wings, nearly oblivious to the crunch of pain and protest through her maimed right wing and the still-soaking blood that had drenched its feathers.

"Unleash thy fury of hellfire, and hold thine oath fulfilled!!"

She leaped.

_**"Salamandora!!!"**_

Her strike hit Longinus merely three handspans away from where Einherjar still pushed at it; unable to contest both blows, Seth-Rah's flow of energy subsided. Einherjar and the Gran Centurio hit home, and Longinus snapped.

As one, Ein and Celina each let out a bloodcurdling yell and plunged their blades into the demigod's body, wrenching Diviner and ancient artifact loose and standing resolute as they were sprayed with Seth-Rah's nearly black blood.

The demigod staggered back, a look of incredulity on its face. "ARRGH…! WHAT… WHAT _ARE _YOU?! HOW COULD YOU HAVE DEFEATED… SOMEONE WITH MY POWER…?"

"I am Ein," the young Grim Angel said fiercely. "And I am a servant of the gods. Powerful you might be, but even you can't stand up to _true _divine will… especially after taking so many lives, and ruining so many more. It's time judgment was finally passed upon you, after everything you've done."

"Try to reshape the world you might, but there are things that you can never defeat," Celina declared both in her voice and in that of a proud young man. "Things like hope, and truth, and love. Faced with that kind of power… your greed and ambition could never triumph!"

"It's my duty to pass judgment upon you, the same way I've done with countless demons," Ein agreed. "I've lost so much along this journey, but I gained something too—I learned how precious peace and happiness really are, and I found the courage to stand up and do what's right!"

"This is the end of your foolish games… Hector." Celina closed her eyes and shook her head. "It shouldn't have come to this, but for the sake of our loved ones, the living and the dead, we condemn you now."

Seth-Rah doubled over with a loud cry, its body shimmering, its shell dissolving into petal-like flakes of crystal that vanished into the wind as they peeled away. It split into two bodies—Seth falling one way with a wail, curled into a fetal position and rocking in obvious agony; Hector the other, blood soaking his robes and outrage creasing his face as he gritted his teeth against the pain.

"You—" Hector snarled, but didn't get any further. He seemed to collapse in on himself, and his body glowed and vanished into swirls of silvery mana, twisting off into the rising sun.

"…It's a sad fate to befall one of our own," Celina said, watching the remnants of Hector's power disappear. "But even so, there's no escaping it. He had to pay for the things he did."

Ein shook his head, then knelt down next to Seth, laying a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Seth, I…"

She turned towards him and opened bleary, half-glazed eyes to smile weakly up at him, pale-faced with pain, already slipping away. "Ein… thank you…"

"Seth…!" It was too late. Ein _knew _it was too late. But still…

"Seth." Both of them turned; Ursula was standing just behind Ein with a smile, hazy at the edges, holding out her hands for her other half. "It's time to go."

"…………!" Seth stared up at her with something like relief in her eyes, then struggled into a sitting position and reached up, straining with the effort. But finally, her fingertips brushed Ursula's.

Peace settled into both their faces, and then there was a burst of light. When Ein could see again, both of them had vanished.

He felt the tears start, but tried to choke them back. After all… it was better this way, wasn't it? Both of them had deserved the rest they'd gone to for a long, long time.

"Ah… ugh…" Next to Ein, Celina wavered, then fell hard to her knees, clutching the Gran Centurio to stay upright, as the veil of flame around her body flickered and died, her eyes going from cast-over gold to their usual red. She hung on to her sword, pale and shaking, but looked wearily to the sky and gave something—some_one?—_Ein couldn't see an exhausted smile.

"I won't forget… what you did for us," she said softly. "Gulcasa of Bronquia, last Emperor of Brongaa's line… on Nessiah's behalf… and mine… I thank you… I thank you from the bottom of my heart."

"Celina… are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," she told him, swallowing. "I'm just… tired, that's all. Besides… that stunt… took a lot more out of _him _than it did me."

"Celina…" Ein wearily sheathed Einherjar, feeling as though he'd aged years since he'd left Elendia, even though it had just been one night. "Serene, Lina… you two come here and help me with her."

"Ein, you don't have to bother." She shook her head weakly, even though she accepted the wordless help of the two Sprite girls to stand. "I've… been through worse. Go to Malice."

Ein went cold at the words. His heart dropped in his chest, withering and sinking like a stone out of what little joy he'd felt at his final victory over Hector. He hadn't wanted to think about it, but now he had no choice.

He couldn't just leave her here.

With slow and reluctant steps, he trudged back to where she lay, kneeling at her side and bowing his head, feeling his eyes start to sting.

"Oh, Malice… this is… this was all my fault, wasn't it…? Because I couldn't get it together in time, you…" He shook his head, pain seizing his chest. "I'm so sorry…"

One hot tear dripped from his face to land with a tacit splash on Malice's cheek.

Slowly, dreamily, she raised one arm to wipe at it, giving a soft sound of protest.

Ein stopped breathing.

"Malice…?"

At the sound of her name, she opened her eyes briefly, then closed them again.

_Pulse, _Ein thought wildly, still hardly able to believe what he'd seen. _I never checked for a pulse. I just thought, since she'd taken a blow like that… she had to have…_

_How…?_

But before he could chase that thought, Ein shook his head. _No. I don't care. I don't _need _to care. She's alive. Malice is alive…!_

"Thank the gods," he said softly, breaking out in a weak smile and slumping forward to rest his forehead against her shoulder.

:TBC:


	18. The Tainted

The Tainted

See disclaimer in part 1

"Are you sure you want to leave so soon, Celina?" Serene asked, unloading her armful of dishes into the kitchen sink with a clatter, sparing a look over her shoulder at her friends where they sat around the table. "I mean… it's only been a week since we got back here. Everyone would love to have you a little longer, especially now that Ein and Malice have said that they're leaving as soon as Malice is well enough to travel. It's so sudden."

Ein turned to the Magus as she leaned back in her chair, putting her feet up on Malice's empty one. "Yeah. I mean, Elendia is a beautiful village, and there's definitely a lot of work that I could do here, but I have to get back to the other Magi and the angels and let them know it's safe to return to Asgard, tell them what happened. And the Gran Centurio needs to get sealed up again. Besides…"

"Besides…?" Ein prompted as Serene ran water over the dishes, then came to sit down.

"I couldn't tell you all before, but… the reason I couldn't just give up and die in that fight… was because I felt Nessiah calling out to me through his sword." She closed her eyes. "It didn't sink in right away, but from his spiritual presence, I could tell… he hasn't got much longer if he stays down in Midgard."

"What do you mean… 'hasn't got much longer'…?" Ein asked, frowning. "I thought you said the Chains of Conviction…"

"That's true, but Midgard has changed drastically over the past thousand years. It's not the same place Ness was meant to serve his sentence in anymore."

"What do you mean? Lina doesn't get it," the archer said, confused.

"Well… Ein already knows most of this, but… hmm." Celina made a face, hesitating, then went on. "You know how after Ragnarok, the Sprites were all brought here to Riviera to separate them from humans since they'd been enslaved by the demons and fought for them against the gods?"

"Yeah."

"Because of that, magic has fallen into a serious decline in Midgard. Sprites were always the ones who were most proficient in magic instead of humans, and without the Sprites, the magic in humans' blood has been waning. Instead of magic, Midgard relies on technology now. All of human history, the memories of Sprites and the kind of magic that's still in use here, is starting to fade into legend, and Ness is… behind the times, out of place. He's an artificer, a mage of unbelievable power, but Midgard has no use of anyone with his talents anymore. So he's been spending his days wasting away in New Flarewerk, without any meaning to his existence.

"I could feel it in him when our souls touched then… Nessiah is very sick. The flow of life in Midgard has become hostile to him, and unless he's taken out of that environment, his very spirit will fade out of existence. He can't wait for the gods to come back. As soon as I've got things settled in Asgard, I'm going down there to take him home."

"Celina…" Ein stared at her distant smile, touched. She was so sure of the words as she said them… all her heart was behind her decision.

"But will everyone in Asgard even let you?" Serene asked, cocking her head to the side. "I mean, from what you told us, Nessiah's got a pretty bad reputation there…"

"I'm sure that's going to change when the truth comes out about how Hector experimented on him, then framed him when he'd really been innocent," Celina said, her expression darkening as she reached back and absently rubbed her maimed right wing, which now always hung crumpled close to her side. "Even if the others protest, I'm sure Ashcroft and my kid brother Samael will back me up. Besides, the fact is that we're gonna need a replacement for Hector, and Ness is the only one with the training and the life expectancy to become the seventh Magus." She shook her head and smiled. "Still… it makes me happy. Just the thought that he'll finally be able to come back home with us, and be accepted again… I never thought I'd see the day it would happen, and I'm so happy, I feel like I'm about to start crying all the time."

"…I'm really glad for you," Ein said with a soft smile.

"Still, you'll come visit everyone, right?" Lina asked. "It's not as if we'll never see you again, right?"

Celina laughed. "Of course. And I'll bring Ness with me when I do. I want to introduce you all."

"Until then, we're gonna have to work really hard to rebuild Elendia," Serene said with a grin, planting her hands on her hips. "And Ein, you and Malice'll have to wander back in sooner or later, and either help out or enjoy it once it's all over."

"I'm sure we will," Ein replied, smiling back.

"By the way, Ein…" Celina leaned over and poked him in the shoulder. "Malice said she wants to talk to you, so go on up and see her. She wouldn't tell me what about, but the look on her face said it was something important."

"Oh… okay." Ein stood up and pushed his chair in, then headed up the stairs to the second story of Fia and Lina's house, where most of the bedrooms were.

It was good to be able to breathe the free air and know that nothing horrible was going to happen to any of them anymore. Living in this house was painful sometimes—it brought back too many old memories, and that was part of the reason Ein wanted to get away for a while, so that he'd be able to be somewhere else while the guilt and the sadness were still fresh—but the peace was worth it.

Malice was standing at the end of the hall, leaning on the door frame with loosely folded arms and her impassive gaze settled on Ein, dressed in the loose white kimono she slept in.

"Should you be out of bed?" Ein asked, concerned. "After all, everyone says you have to rest…"

"I'll be fine for now," Malice replied, straightening up with a sigh. "…Ein, will you come out to the terrace with me for a while? There's something I think I need to talk to you about… something I probably should've explained to you a long time ago."

"Sure," Ein said with a nod, and the two of them headed outside, sitting on the low wooden bench that rested close to the wall of the house and looking up at the starry night sky.

After a long silence, Malice shook her head and turned to him.

"You know, after my mother died and I lost control of almost everything around me, it was like I stopped being alive. I was obsessed with getting stronger, obsessed with revenge against the demons that had taken everything away from me. When the Grim Angel trials opened, I knew I'd have to sacrifice something, but I didn't care. The part of my self that was a living, breathing person, a soul with emotions and a future and wants and needs, didn't matter to me. I gave myself to the Magi, to be their tool. But…

"Ein, it's… difficult to say it, explain it, but you have to know this. When Hector originally took me in and became my sponsor, he was… he was _kind _to me, extended his protection to me to keep me from becoming too physically unstable, taught me to fight and kill with my new power, but sheltered me from the reality of fighting and killing. At first, it was gratitude. Then… then it was trust, and after that…"

Realization washed over Ein as he looked at her, pity welling up in his heart. "You fell in love with him," he said softly.

"Yes." Malice shook her head and leaned forward, crossing her arms again and looking into the distance. "Hector woke my heart back up, saying that to really serve the gods' judgment, I was going to have to be able to put all of myself into the battle instead of just fighting on mechanically. It was like all the color had come back into the world, all of a sudden. I would've done anything for him in those early days. I'd… never been in love before. Hector became my reason for _everything. _And he seemed to feel the same way I did, Ein… I never would've believed anyone if they'd told me he was manipulating me.

"Before I knew what was going on, we became lovers. Hector was my first. Back then, he was so gentle with me… even my first time, it didn't hurt, and I came _twice. _I know you probably don't get the significance of that, being a virgin yourself, but… he was careful with me, and he knew what he was doing. With my heart, with my body, in bed, when he was teaching me… everything. He owned me. Heart, body, and soul, he owned me, and I was happy being his, at least until it all started…

"Things… first changed when you were made a Grim Angel. Hector got impatient easily, was a lot more excitable, and sometimes he'd snap at me for little things. Sure, it was no big deal, but it _hurt. _I was afraid of losing him, since he was the one thing that made my life worth living at that point in time. I was like… some little kid tagging after her idol, always eager to please. Hector was everything to me, even then. Sure, sometimes he wanted me to do things for him that made me uncomfortable, but when I was with him, I was almost… happy again.

"Well, then when you and Ledah went out, and I was told to shadow you, then start collecting souls for Seth's revival, he started getting mad at _me. _I wasn't working fast enough, he said. I was incompetent, he said. Sometimes he would hit me. He'd apologize afterwards, promise he wouldn't do it again, and at first I believed him, but… there'd always be more accusations, worse abuse. Even though he did things to me that… were worse afterwards, what hurt the most was… the first time I ran into you, and you interfered with the soul collection at Rosalina. When I reported that… he was furious. He hit me and hit me, then he took me into his private quarters and he forced me. It was painful. I was so afraid of him that I almost hated him then, but I still loved him. I was sick with it. Whenever I failed in my duties, he would hurt me—physically, emotionally, or sexually, it didn't matter, it was a betrayal. What made it worse was, I felt like I deserved it. I was 'bad'. I needed to be punished, and the fact that I was terrified was punishable enough.

"And you know, even then, I was still in love with him. I wondered if there was something wrong with me those days, after he'd beat me or hurt me. Something had to be wrong with me, that I would love someone who did that to me, so maybe I _did _deserve it. It made me sick to even admit to myself that sometimes I would still get aroused when he raped me."

Ein shook his head. "The… body doesn't always know the difference between lovemaking and rape," he said helplessly; Malice held up a hand to silence him.

"Intellectually, I knew that. But emotionally, it was another matter. Just being alive in those conditions was agony, but somewhere inside I just kept hoping that after all this was over, if I just got it right one time, then maybe things would go back to the way they'd been before.

"The breaking point was… after Yggdrasil. Hector ordered me to 'dispose' of Ledah if anything went wrong, since he knew Ledah was faltering between his orders and his need to be true to the gods, especially since he was in love with you. I did it when the time came, but doing it made me sick. I murdered one of my own childhood friends, in cold blood, just because Hector had told me to. And I'd still managed to botch things, because even though the manalith of wisdom was broken and the stage was set, you were still alive and able to interfere. Hector was _furious. _After he was finished with me, he gave me to his demon captains, and they gang-raped me. That did it. What little love I had broke. The color went out of the world again, and I was dead inside.

"After I finished my last mission—getting the final two souls Hector asked of me—I left. I knew I was unnecessary then. I knew that if I did anything else wrong, he would kill me this time. So I left." Malice sighed. "And then I ran into you."

She was silent for a long time.

"And the colors are back now."

Ein waited silently, expectantly.

"I've done horrible things, seen atrocities, survived things as bad or worse at the hands of someone I loved. Hector had my trust, and he betrayed me. It's hard for me to believe in anything anymore, but… I still think that I can believe in you. Because I know from experience that you're not the kind of man who'd do such a thing to anyone. Ein, I… there are still so many things in my heart that I have to sort through. After the life I've lived… even though it's a love you might accept… a love that comes from me would still be twisted. And it's going to be a while before I'll be able to let anyone touch me again. It could be months, it could be years, it could be longer… but it's going to take time before I can stand to let a man inside me. Are you… Ein, are you really okay with all of that…?"

Ein just shook his head at her.

"Malice… we both have a lot of problems we need to work through. In my own way, I'm as tainted as you are. It doesn't matter to me that you're not perfect. All that matters is that you're you, and at the end of that battle, when I thought you'd died… the life ahead of me no longer felt like it was worth living." Gently, he put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her in against his side. "I _love _you, Malice. So I'm willing to accept you the way you are. You have all the time you need. I'll always be by your side. When you're ready for those things, I'll be here."

Malice sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder. "…Thank you, Ein."

"We've got a long road ahead of us, but…" Ein looked up at the sky, watching the carpet of stars above them glitter. "As long as there's a road… as long as there's a way that we can rebuild… let's walk it together."

"If I'm to have a future after all… I wouldn't want it any other way than to be with you," Malice replied, and closed her eyes.

::to be concluded::


	19. Epilogue and Afterword

The Tainted

See disclaimer in part 1

Epilogue

::In the Mountains::

"Ein, you'd better hurry up or I'm going to just leave you here," Malice said, shifting her pack against her shoulder and looking back down the trail with a mildly annoyed look in her eyes.

"Just a minute, just a minute." Puffing a little, Ein came into view behind her, jogging to catch up. She stood patiently and waited until he had.

"You're getting out of shape now we don't have to fight so much. Honestly. You're still such a kid sometimes. Just because Riviera's peaceful now doesn't mean you get to slack off."

Ein sighed and hung his head. "Yeah, yeah, I know. But all the same, at least I got the map fixed. We can take another look at it once we set up camp for the night, decide where we're going to go next."

"We'll just go wherever the mood suits," Malice replied, turning to face further down the mountain trail. "After all, we'll be able to find work wherever we go. There are still hostile demons all over the place, and there was a lot of damage from the final battle with Seth-Rah that can't be repaired by just the Sprites. But the point is, we can't just keep standing here if we want to reach our next destination. We've still got a ways to go, Ein."

Watching her, Ein smiled and nodded. "…Yeah."

:Owari.:

Postscript 

It's a little ironic that today's the day I should finish The Tainted at last. It's the sixteenth of April, meaning that in three days it will have been exactly one year since this fic originally got posted here on FF-Net. (Of course, it'll probably be some time after that date that this epilogue actually gets put up, seeing as this story got hugely backed up when an apparent glitch in the site's system put the upload for the document manager out of commission. So far I've been using Export to cheat, copy, and paste new chapters, but hopefully the administration is going to notice there's a problem and fix it.) This fic has come a pretty long way over the past year… well, okay, not really. Considering the huge hiatus in between chapters 3 and 4 (during which time I worked my ass off on writing Kokoro no Hanashi, my labor of "love", which some of you might also be reading), most of the work I've done here has been done since the announcement that Riviera was scheduled for a re-release on the Sony PSP.

The Tainted was started not out of some well-laid plan like other works of mine, including Shadowed Heart (hiatus or no, it's got an outline) and the aforementioned monster, KnH. With it, I aimed to prove one simple theorem: Ein is compatible with the entire main cast (Ledah and the girls), including Malice. In order to prove this was true, I decided to set up a scenario in which the two of them would have to work together to overcome Hector's threat. TT was slow going at first, since I didn't have much idea in the beginning of _how _exactly that was going to work. A little after I got the two of them going, I planned out a scene in which the two of them encountered Seth in the forest, and though her part in the story changed considerably from my original ideas, she got things moving again, which is all the more reason to love her.

I adore Seth, think she's hopelessly cute, and stick no blame whatsoever on her for the part she plays in the culmination of the game's events. I was disappointed, though, that her character wasn't developed further in Riviera, so I was happy that I got the opportunity to do so here. Her fate wasn't something I could change, though. The only way to really free Seth from the torment of her existence, a life based upon the sacrifice of others' lives, would be death.

Celina's also come a long way from her introduction in the oneshot "Adieu" that I wrote over a year ago now. After her brief appearance there, she took a supporting role in my short Ledah/Ein fic "Jugement du Ciel", and became a party member here after some deliberation. Since at that point I'd started playing Yggdra Union, she wound up wielding the Gran Centurio as an homage to that game, but before I realized it, I'd started referring to Nessiah, and interwove his story with hers as the reason she's always hated Hector. (I'm sure people had wondered up to that point in TT, since I continually mentioned that she never got along with him in just about everything I included her in.) That was supposed to be the extent of YU's inclusion in TT, but then Gulcasa got involved, and… one thing sort of led to another. All that said, I really like Celina and was happy I got the chance to work with her and round her persona out more fully. If anyone's interested, her concept art—including both her outfits, her weaponry, her level-3 and ExL OverSkill pictures, AND her face collection—can be found on Lacrima Castle's forum. (I need to upload her extra and colored art, as well as the art for her subclass change to Brongaa Maiden, one of these days.) Go check it out, and tell off the whiny people there at LCN who seem to exist to bash my work. A little support sometimes would be nice… or something.

Sorry for segueing. Anyway, moving on…

Ecthel, Anathea, and Tabris were also characters I'd designed a while ago and was happy to get the chance to use. Ecthel is—as I believe someone guessed—the Grim Angel who appears in the opening CGs in Riviera who looks something like Ein. Anathea's name is homage to the Midnighters trilogy by Scott Westerfeld, gotten from a minor character that appears in the second book. Tabris' is, obviously, a Neon Genesis Evangelion reference, and is shared not only by our lovely Kaworu-chan but also by the Angel of Free Will in Christianity.

In the original plans for The Tainted, Serene was supposed to have died, but that never exactly sat well with me, as it's stated _very _clearly in Riviera itself that Hector needed exactly two souls at that point in the game to resurrect Seth. Fia and Cierra therefore became the sacrifices, whereas I decided to keep Serene to express Malice's decision to redeem herself and work at repentance for her sins. The other reasons why Fia and Cierra died while Serene and Lina didn't was because to give Malice half a chance with Ein, I had to remove all of her direct romantic rivals—Ledah, Fia, Cierra, and Rose, each of whom were in love with him in The Tainted.

Over the months I worked on TT, I wound up compiling the characters' battle data and information to fit the story's mechanics into Riviera's system (you'll notice that over the course of the story, the party never exceeds five members, and I kept OverSkills and other systematic functions, such as looking—used in scenes such as Ein's trying to find healing herbs for Malice and picking up Seth's hair ribbon after returning to Riviera from Asgard—to preserve the same feel). I doubt that the information will ever show up anywhere online, but I actually do have statistics, incantations, battle quotes, and other stats on every party member, including the three Grim Angels from Ragnarok. Feral can be a real nerd about fanfics sometimes.

Even though this story was meant to be a romance between Ein and Malice, there's a distinct lack of progress in their relationship as compared to other love stories I've written, and like Malice says in the final chapter, this is because of the extent to which Hector abused her. At this point she's just not mentally stable enough to handle involvement in a sexual relationship, and probably wouldn't even be able to handle something so mild as being kissed. It's monumental that she's even able to place her faith in Ein, and so that's where this story ends.

And lastly, I got a lot of questions about the interlude story surrounding Seth, "Her Paper Heart". TT: HPH was originally written as a separate oneshot, an assignment for my creative writing class. I decided to include it in The Tainted rather than posting it as a separate oneshot because it does reveal a critical plot point—how Hector kept Seth under control before moving her to the gods' gravesite and starting the final sequence of events. The premise is that he meant to confine her in her own mind by fabricating a reality in which she could live comfortably as an ordinary girl. (I also just wanted to write a short piece with Seth as the heroine, 'cause Seth needs more love.)

This closes out The Tainted. I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed this story and stuck with it through that shameful hiatus, and while sadly I don't have any Riviera projects planned at this time, readers who want more of my stuff are recommended to take a look at the Yggdra Union stories I've put in this section while waiting for the FF-Net administration to give the game its own topic. You already know Nessiah and Gulcasa (…well, sort of…), and some serious spoilers about the game's plot, so you should get to know the rest of the lovable cast, too. It's an excellent game set in the same universe as Riviera—albeit a long, long time before Ragnarok—so you should check it out if you can. (Hurry, before it befalls the same fate as Riviera and becomes completely impossible to find!!)

My gratitude is also extended to the many talented musicians whose tunes inspired me, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Ah! My Goddess, Chrono Crusade, Angel/Dust, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, Tales of Symphonia, and Fruits Basket, from which I shamelessly pirated a few ideas, and all my beloved obsessions, which had more minor impacts on the story and characters.

The Tainted is a story about sin and redemption. Even though most might think that the one referred to by the title is Malice, in truth it's the entire cast. Malice is a murderer, Ein could only stand by and watch as people died, Celina is ruled by her emotions and her inability to save her loved ones, Seth could only be born through the deaths of others, and so on. But even in their hopeless situations, as long as they kept fighting, they were able to give themselves the chance they needed to keep fighting, and that's what makes their story special.

Thank you for seeing things through to the end. This one, like all the others, is for Rau-sama. **I love you.** Don't forget.

-Feral Phoenix

April 16, 2007, 8:57 PM


End file.
